


The Return Of The Wolf

by Raven_Mortem



Series: The Wolf Eternal Series [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus, Doctor Who (2005) - Freeform, F/M, Harry Potter - Freeform, Magic, Mystery, Phoenix - Freeform, TARDIS - Freeform, Time and Space Travel, Two universes collide, Witch - Freeform, owl - Freeform, wolf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:08:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 139,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27568774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Mortem/pseuds/Raven_Mortem
Summary: (Please note that this is a REWRITE)It had been a long time, but Aries Prince still remembered that part of her life.The part that included magic, adventures, and a very magical castle that held one very large secret.It was hard not to when she could feel the power that ran through her veins, see the chain that hung around her neck, or the tattoo on her arm.Now?Well, Aries wasn't too certain where her life was headed.Between aliens, UNIT, her research and the Doctor, there were a few moments she slowed down enough to remember where she had come from.And even fewer moments where she thought about where her long life would lead her.
Relationships: Ninth Doctor & OC
Series: The Wolf Eternal Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015137
Comments: 39
Kudos: 29





	1. Saying Goodbye

** Hogwarts: 2nd** **May, 1998 **

Rieka Lestari, secretly Snape, a twenty-three year old, Seventh Year Ravenclaw, never understood how she was different from everyone else. Never understood why she never felt like she truly never belonged anywhere.

Her adopted father had always told her that she was special and that he would do anything within his power to make sure that the Dark Lord would never get his hands on her. The red head never understood what he had meant when he had explained that some of her powers had to be locked away and kept hidden, even from herself. She never understood why he had put blocks upon her mind to stop those powers from activating.

But she trusted Severus Snape with her life.

She had always trusted him. From the moment he had saved her from the orphanage she had been living in since the age of one, all the way to the moment he had passed away in her arms after the Dark Lord and his snake had killed him.

Rieka had waited for the ‘Golden Trio’ to leave before making her presence known. Her father had been startled at first, but as she cast spell after spell to try and heal him, he quickly grew serious. Even through his pain, the vow he had made to her when Albus Dumbledore performed their magical adoption always came first. The vow he made to protect her and always do what was necessary for her survival.

He had, with great difficulty, shown her a memory. It was of a prophecy that had been hidden from everyone but himself and the late Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

Rieka had been drawn into the memory as she stared into his obsidian eyes. A form of Legilimency that they had perfected over the years. A form that made her occlumency walls seem like they were non-existent.

\----

_Rieka appeared in a pub. She quickly realised it was the Hog Head, the same pub that Professor Trelawney had prophesied Harry Potter and the Dark Lords fate._

_She looked around and realised that it was that same fateful day as she spotted her father. Knowing he wasn’t who she needed to watch, Rieka looked around. The voice of a younger Professor Dumbledore and Trelawney reached her ears and she stepped closer to the room as her old divination teacher stiffen and her eyes clouded over._

_“The daughter of the Phoenix, raised by a Snake._

_Protected from the truth but hidden from the lies._

_Though her path must lay elsewhere, beyond the distant stars._

_The pull she must follow or the universe will crumble._

_The stars are going out, the worlds are becoming lost._

_At the Snake’s setting sun, the Wolf will be reborn._

_But with the Oncoming Storm, the daughter of time shall remember her past._

_She will learn of her destiny, from spoilers, slips and fools,_

_At the end of time and the beginning of her fall._

_Though her journey will be long, the road painful and twisted._

_A daughter of time, a daughter of space._

_A Lord of Time shall be her Mate, but the Wolf Eternal shall be her fate.”_

_Trelawney’s eyes refocused as a baffled Dumbledore tried to comprehend what he had just heard._

_Rieka however, frowned at the Seer’s words, unsure what to make of them. Unsure how it related to her._

_It was true that she didn’t know who her parents were, but she couldn’t see how this prophecy could be speaking about her._

\----

She was suddenly back, staring into the eyes of her dying father.

“I know it’s confusing, Rie,” Severus gasped out as she tried to stop the blood flowing from his neck with his own healing spell, muttering it under her breath as she shook her head.

The prophecy didn’t matter right now. Not to her. Only he mattered.

“Rie, look at me,” he rasped.

She slowly raised her head, her blue eyes filled with unshed tears.

“You need to go,” he told her as firmly as he could manage, but Rieka shook her head more firmly as the tears started to fall.

Her father’s gaze hardened and his face cleared of pain. Rieka knew immediately that he was occluding and she knew that he had already decided on what he was about to do.

He muttered, “I’m sorry,” before he whispered a spell she had never heard of in a language unknown.

Rieka stumbled away from him in alarm and surprise as she watched red and blue ethereal tendrils of energy seem to surround her. She looked back at her father with wide eyes, unsure as to what he had just done. Rieka looked down at her hands and realised that the ethereal energy was actually coming from her.

“It needs to be fulfilled,” Severus gasped out and as Rieka looked at him, she could see something in his eyes. Something that told her that he believed in this prophecy more than anything. That he would do anything to help her fulfil it.

“Just remember to be happy, if not for you, then for me, Rie. And never forget how much you mean to me and that I will be with you, always,” her father told her as a tear fell down his cheek.

“I love you too,” Rieka sobbed as her thumb went up to wipe his tear away, but just as she did so, the tear glowed with brilliant radiance as it solidified. What was left resting in her palm was a solid tear that shone like diamonds.

As Rieka looked back up to Severus Snape, the only person she had trusted beyond anyone else, her own tears continued to fall as she watched him take his last breath with a content look upon his face, knowing that his work upon the world was complete.

Before Rieka could mourn him, however, the ethereal energy that was glowing around and within her, brightened and a blue fire Phoenix landed on her shoulder.

Rieka Lestari vanished from sight and history with a deafening crack and blue flames.


	2. Mysterious Letter

** London: May 2nd** **, 1898 **

Rieka appeared in a room, landing on the soft carpet with a loud thud, drawing the attention of the woman in the other room.

The curly-haired woman rushed out of the kitchen, her dinner forgotten, and into the living room. It was sparsely furnished as she knew this day was coming and didn’t want Rieka to appear above a coffee table or anything else and had made sure that the room had been emptied for that reason.

“Thank you, Eildrim,“ she murmured to the Phoenix, giving him a quick scratch and some grapes that had been waiting for his arrival in the room.

The Phoenix gobbled them down before disappearing in a burst of flames, his job here now finished.

She rushed over to the young witches side and quickly made sure that she wasn’t injured. “Oh, I’m sorry Rie,” she whispered, knowing what had happened and what would happen.

She quickly picked the red head up and took her to the main bedroom. It was a simple room with a large wooden king size four-poster bed, a walk-in wardrobe filled with new clothes, a desk, and a bookshelf filled with various books that she knew would interest Rieka, as well as a door that led to a bathroom. Even if it was the 1890’s, the room, and house in general was quite ‘ahead of its time’ to provide some familiarity for the young witch.

She placed the woman on the bed and got her cleaned up and changed into a clean set of comfortable clothes, carefully taking care of any noticeable injures she could find, knowing that the young witch would be awake soon. Rieka would be in enough stress after what she’s just gone through to have to worry about anything like that.

As she cleaned her up, she found the crystallized tear and smiled sadly at it. She placed it on the bedside table next to the bed, knowing she would fix it up for the red head. When she had finished making sure Rieka was comfortable and had no injures that needed treatment, she picked up the tear.

Pulling a chain from her pocket, the blonde smiled as she quickly fixed the tear upon it, knowing that Rieka never took it off, along with the necklace the red head was currently wearing, although that one did change over the years. When she was finished fixing the tear onto the chain, the curly-haired woman placed it on the bedside table next to the bed, along with a letter she pulled from a pocket.

The curly-haired woman then got up and left, going to the kitchen to grab her food and placed it into a take-away container from one of the cupboards. She glanced at the room Rieka was resting in and smiled wistfully, “Good luck, Sweetie,” she whispered before she revealed her vortex manipulator and put in where she needed to go.

The same moment Rieka’s eyes opened, there was a flash in the kitchen and the curly-haired woman was gone.

\----

Rieka shot up in the bed she was laying in, looking around in confusion. Her once normal sapphire blue eyes were now silver-grey and flecked with red.

An unfamiliar scent reached her nose and she wondered if there was anyone else around. Her heart started pounding in her chest when she realised that she was in an unknown location with a possible threat.

Moving as quietly as she could, Rieka moved to get off the bed and had just placed a foot on the carpeted floor when she noticed the tear of her father’s on a chain sitting atop a letter.

Frowning, the red head scanned the room, looking for anything out of place or any sign of danger. Her ears were straining to pick up any noise outside of the bedroom she was in, but the only sound Rieka heard was the ticking of clock in another room. Nothing else.

Looking back to the letter and necklace, she carefully reached out to grab the chain, only pausing to cast a few detection spells to make sure it was harmless, not even realising she had done so without her wand, and the moment the small, crystal-like tear was in her hand, it was like everything that had just happened hit her all at once.

He was gone.

Tears fell from her eyes as she remembered the War and losing her father, her heart clenching at her loss. She curled up on the bed as her sobs grew louder, her hand closing tightly around the tear as she remembered everything that happened.

The knowing look in Severus’ eyes before it turned to pain when the bastard who called himself Lord Voldemort cut his throat and then set his snake to attack him repeatedly.

And then the way he had looked at Potter, knowing that the boy, no matter how much Severus might have detested him, was truly the last memory he had of the woman he had once loved and lost.

When Rieka had appeared in the shack as the others had left, he had been surprised at first, before suddenly it was replaced by anguish and then sheer determination. The words he had spoken to her, knowing that they would be the last words she would ever hear from him.

Her hand tightened around the crystal-like pendant, knowing that the tear that was on it was the last thing he had given her and it caused Rieka to let out a anguished cry as her body was rocked with pain and heartbreak as she thought about the man who had saved her life. The man who became so much more of a father, but a close friend and confidant.

Severus Snape had been Rieka’s rock, her safety net in a world that had treated them both so poorly. That had treated them so wrong.

But now....he was gone.

Rieka curled up on the bed as she grieved the man she had lost and was soon asleep, her hand clenching around the tear tightly as her mind remembered the man who had done everything in his power to keep her safe and alive during a time where even his own survival was not guaranteed.

\----

_Severus smiled when his daughter flew through the charmed window in his private quarters._

_Second year, thirteen year old, Rieka Snape, shifted back, smiling herself, “I did it!” she exclaimed, hugging her father, and the usually stoic man hugged her back without hesitation._

_“I never doubted you could,” he murmured proudly into her hair._

_“Now we can take flights together,” Rieka said, pulling away and looking at her father hopefully, though she knew that it would still be hard._

_“We’d still need to be careful, Rie,” Severus told her, his smile falling somewhat. He wasn’t happy that he had to keep his daughter a secret from the world, but it protected her, kept her safe, and he would do anything to make sure she survived this war._

_Rieka’s smile didn’t fade however, “We have the Christmas holidays coming up in a few weeks, and I, uh....” she trailed off, looking rather uncertain as she dropped her head, hiding behind the fringe of her long red hair._

_Severus raised an eyebrow, “Hmmm,” he hummed, waiting for her to finish._

_Rieka looked through her hair hesitantly, unsure how her father would react to her news as her hand went into her pocket and pulled something out._

_“Dumbledore helped me find a way to be able to see you more often,” she told her father, handing over the item in her hand, “He managed to get Amelia Bones to create this after swearing her to secrecy.”_

_Severus furrowed his brows as he looked down at the necklace in his hand. He flipped the pendant over and read what it said._

**_Nox_ **

**_Familiar to_ **

**_Master Severus Snape_ **

_The sound of Severus’ laughter filled the room as he pulled his daughter into another hug. “How you never got sorted into Slytherin, my daughter, is beyond me?” he chuckled._

_Rieka beamed up at him, thankful that he wasn’t upset, “I don’t have to be in Slytherin to be cunning and sly,” she said with a giggle._

_“You cheeky little snake,” Severus stated, a proud grin worked his way on his face, “You’re more Slytherin that you realise. The hat just must have got it wrong.”_

_“The hat actually couldn’t place me,” Rieka said thoughtfully, a troubled look overcame her face, “He said that I could be put anywhere, that I didn’t belong to just one house, that I had the characteristics of all four.”_

_Severus smiled down at his daughter, “It spoke the truth,” he told her, “You have the heart of a lion, the loyalty of a badger, the mind of a raven, and the cunningness of a snake. And you already know that it wouldn’t have made me any less proud of you if you ended up in any of the other houses,” he said as he turned her around and gently placed the necklace around her neck._

_The moment Severus secured the necklace, the pendant changed and the writing disappeared. In its place was a small wolf. Rieka frowned as she looked at it._

_Seeing her expression, Severus explained, “Amelia would have charmed it so it would change depending on your form. Why don’t you shift to test it,” he told her._

_Rieka smiled and stepped back. Her eyes closed as she focused on her animagus form. She felt the changes happen, becoming smaller and feathers sprouting all over her body. She felt her bones shift and crack painlessly as her limbs changed to wings and her feet growing talons. A strange sensation overcame her face when her nose and mouth joined before extending out to form her beak._

_When she opened her eyes, she had to look much higher up to see her father. She flapped her wings and took off, landing on his shoulder a moment later._

_Severus conjured a mirror and allowed Rieka to check the necklace. She found what he had said was true. It now displayed that she was his familiar. She gave a happy hoot and took off, circling the room, the sound of Severus’ chuckling washing over her like a warm hug._

_She now had another way to spend more time with her father._

\----

It was hours later when Rieka woke up. Her eyes were puffy and her throat sore. She groaned as she rolled over on the bed and she looked down at the necklace in her hand and the indentation on her palm that it had made from where she’d held it tightly as she slept.

Her eyes began to water again, but she blinked rapidly, keeping them from falling. She unclasped the chain and placed it around her neck, reclasping it closed when she was done. It fell on the outside of her shirt, just above where her other necklace was.

Her hand came up to the other necklace, her thumb running over the intricate carvings of a wolf, a snake, and a phoenix. She had never known what they represented until Severus had told her that it depicted herself and her parents, though how the wizard knew, Rieka had no idea.

The wolf was of course, Rieka. It was the meaning behind her name, and the others represented her parents, though she was unsure as to which was which.

She flipped it over and her thumb ran over the strange circular pattern on the other side. It seemed familiar, but she could never remember why or how.

Rieka frowned as she looked at it. She had never known her parents and she still couldn’t help wonder why they had left her at the orphanage. She had questioned Severus, but he could never tell her. Every time she had brought it up, the normally taciturn man’s eyes would turn sad and told her that they had loved her.

Glancing back at the bedside table when she remembered the envelope, Rieka’s eyes narrowed. Someone had known she was returning today. She could still smell the scent in the air. It was female and human, but there was something inhuman about it.

She cast her hand over the envelope, checking it for anything sinister. She was wary, having just come from a war. When she found nothing, not even anything like poisons or traps, she carefully picked it up.

Rieka’s eyebrows raised, although a frown tugged at her lips when a small emerald green wallet fell out of the letter when she opened it. She picked it up and looked at it, finding that it only held a bit of blank paper and looked to the letter, hoping it might hold some clues as to what was going on.

_Rieka,_

_I know that you’re probably rather confused as to what’s happening. I want you to know that you’re on Earth and it’s the same day you would have left the other universe, but it’s not the same year._

_The house you are in has been left for you until you no longer require it. It’s safe to place wards around the property if you would like to. I know that you’d have questions about how I know you, but all I can say is that time is complicated. You may have never met me, but I’ve met you multiple times. It will be a long while until we meet face to face, but I want you to know I’m a friend._

_The small wallet you would have found with this letter will help with any documentation you will need. It’s called Psychic Paper and all you have to do is think of what you want to show someone and it will appear._

Rieka’s frown deepened as she glanced back up the wallet and thought hard about what she wanted to appear. Her expression turned confused when nothing happened. She glanced back down at the letter.

_You are now probably frowning as the paper didn’t do anything, but if I know you, and I do, your occlumency walls would be hindering your ability to read it. Yes, I know about them, don’t frown at the letter. I know about your magic. And about other things as well that you’ll learn in due time._

_Now, enough about the paper. I mentioned above that it’s not the same year. It’s the year 1898._

_I know, I know. Why in Merlins name did you arrive at this time and not later, but it was necessary. Time is a delicate thing and things need to follow the order that has already happened._

_Now, I know you’ll begin to realise you’ll know things you shouldn’t and be able to do things you once thought were impossible. Again, I can’t tell you why. Now stop your scowling. It’s not good for your skin. You will find out in due time. There’s a library off from the living room. It will have some books that you should read. I’d suggest that you might want to get to know this Earth and the way it’s run as I know it will be completely different to what you are use to._

_Especially since this Earth has a small understanding of aliens. You will need to check out some government organisations as soon as you can, especially Torchwood if you would rather go unnoticed._

_Now, I know that you’d be suspicious towards me and this letter, but I hope that you will at least consider what I’ve written._

_I wish you all the best Sweetie, and I can’t wait to meet you._

Rieka reread the letter, wondering what the person was talking about. Different Earth? 1898? But she was also concerned and wary about whoever had left this letter. They knew far too much about her and Rieka was unsure if she should trust the person behind the letter.

“I can’t wait to meet you either,” Rieka murmured, her nose wrinkling as she thought about how long a ‘long while’ was going to be.


	3. The Empty Child

** London: February 16th, 1941 **

In a damp and dark part of London, a red headed young woman followed after another, making sure to stay out of view as she did so. Aries had been worried about Nancy after the air-raid sirens went off and had reluctantly left Constantine on his own to check up on her, so she had silently sighed in relief when she had found the younger brunette coming out of a house.

Any other time, Aries may have had a problem with breaking into someone’s house to steal their food, but this was the Second World War. It was bad enough that the children Nancy watched over were still in London. But Aries had also seen some disappear, only to reappear a few months later, and it didn’t take a genius to know why they had returned after seeing the condition were found in.

But after what had happened to Nancy’s brother, Jamie, Aries had been making sure to check up on her when ever she could. The freedom the red head had with flight helped often as sometimes Nancy was with the children and they weren’t very fond of adults, and after what had happened with Jamie, Aries had been more inclined to watched Nancy from afar.

As Nancy headed towards one of her many catches she kept, Aries hung back in the shadows as she tugged one of her gloves off. She stared at the odd scar that was on the back of it, her eyebrows narrowing. She didn’t know what type of virus had started to spread after that air-raid, but she was going to find out. She had to before she lost Constantine as well.

She glanced in the direction that Nancy had gone in before putting her glove back on and headed back towards the hospital. When she reached a small, dead-end alleyway that she had warded against anyone noticing it, Aries shifted into her more feathered form and took to the air. She knew that Nancy would be fine for the time being and she had made sure to stock up one of her catches with some more food and water.

Heading towards Albion Hospital, Aries banked a little off course, wanting to circle over the bomb site. Her black feathers reflected the moonlight and gave off a dark red sheen, almost making it appear as if her feathers were glowing dimly in the darkness. And as she glided silently over the rooftops, her wings beating lazily as she caught an updraft, Aries couldn’t help but think about the virus. It was all she could think about since she was one of the first infected, but was the only one whom appeared to be unaffected by it.

Anyone who had come into contact with Jamie had succumbed to the virus’ effects. Anyone, but her. Aries had her suspicions as to why, of course, but it wasn’t like she could really talk with anyone about her magic. That would only lead to a one-way ticket to the looney bin, or dumped straight onto Torchwood’s door, wrapped up with a little bow-tie like a present at Christmas.

 _Yes, better to stay away from them,_ Aries mused as she circled the bomb site, seeing the undetonated bomb covered by some tarp, a part of it revealed as people moved around it. She took note of the soldiers lined the perimeter as well as the best way to enter and exit, though she really wasn’t planning to. It was an old habit that her father had taught her to do when she surveyed anything.

As she circled the site one last time, Aries noticed that they had people trying to get into the bomb and wondered if they had a death wish. She had no idea as to why anyone would want to try and get into a bomb of any kind, and this one was quite massive. Giving them one final glance, Aries headed off towards the hospital, deciding that if they wanted to play with fire, they were most welcome to. As long as she was not in the area when they did so.

Something caught her eye, breaking Aries from her thoughts as she noticed a man wearing a black leather jacket at the hospital gates before passing through after managing to get the lock open. She passed overhead, wanting to get an idea of what he looked like before disappearing around the building and towards her room.

The moment she was inside, Aries shifted back. She gave herself a once over in her mirror, making sure she didn’t look like she had just tracked through the dirty streets of London. Her dark blue top and black pants had a few marks on them which vanished with a thought, her magic reaching out to do what she wanted almost before she even knew. Her long dark green coat was spotless, having been charmed to resist most things. Her boots needed a bit more magic to clean them and with a quick brush, her blood red, pixie cut styled hair was somewhat presentable.

Aries didn’t need Constantine to worry she was outside during the air-raids, and as she rushed down the stairs and to the ward where she had last seen the doctor, Aries couldn’t help but wonder as to what that newcomer was doing out during an air-raid. He wasn’t an officer of any kind, but he also didn’t look to be a doctor or any type of medical expert.

 _So why was he coming here?_ Aries thought, rather hopeful that she may find out.

\----

When Aries stepped into the ward, she scowled. “You should be resting,” she told Constantine as she helped him over to his desk, “I told you I would do the check-ups when I finished that pile of washing after dinner,” she lied.

Constantine shook his head with a smile as he sat down. “It was no problem, my dear,” he told Aries, his eyes twinkling, “I just figured that you must have been a very busy and you do enough around here as it is. There isn’t much to do with their check-ups and I thought I could get it done before you returned.”

Aries was about to reply when the sound of a door opening further down the corridor outside the ward gained her attention. She gave Constantine a look, clearly telling him that she wasn’t happy with him working when he should have been resting, but her curiosity of this newcomer was perked and tending after a bunch of patients that did nothing but lay around all day did get boring after a while.

Aries watched the newcomer in the leather jacket enter the ward. He didn’t seem to notice either of them as he checked the patients, each who were all wearing a gas mask that Aries had realised were not just sitting on their face but rather fused, though she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why or how. None of the books the red head had been left had nothing on what she was experiencing and wondered if it was some new kind of weapon the German’s were using.

She took the opportunity to look the man over. He looked ordinary in any sense, but she was getting a feeling of there being something different about him. “You’ll find them everywhere. In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them,” Aries spoke up after a moment as she stood in front of Constantine, startling the newcomer.

The Doctor spun on his heal, his hearts skipping a beat at the sound of the woman’s voice. He froze when his eyes landed on her, immediately taking in her difference in appearance and it caused him to realise it had happened once again. When he had last seen Aries, she had much longer hair, and it had been over forty years from now. What she was doing in London during the Blitz, he had no idea, but he also had so many questions for his Nesdra after their last encounter.

Tilting her head to the side a little, Aries watched the Doctor’s reaction carefully, deciding that he was the oddest person she had ever seen break into somewhere, let alone a hospital during an air-raid. The man was wearing a dark blue shirt under the leather jacket, along with black pants and shoes, and the red head wondered mildly if he had a thing for the colour black.

“Are you okay?” she asked him after he continued to stare at her like he had seen a ghost. The Doctor’s expression confused her as she didn’t recognise him as someone she had met before so was rather unsure as to why he was looking at her like that.

The Doctor’s blue eyes cleared as he shook off his confusion and shock, although his eyebrows were still slightly creased. “Yeah, yeah,” he replied before refocusing on the patients, leaving himself to figure out what his Nesdra was doing during World War Two for later, let alone how she seemed to jump around his time line. “Yes, I saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?” the Time Lord questioned as he looked back over the patients.

Aries frowned at his reaction. Clearly the man seemed to recognise her, but she pushed the feeling aside as she picked at her gloves. “They’re not,” she explained sadly before shaking her head, “Who are you?” she changed the subject, curious to know more about the newcomer.

“I’m, er,” the Doctor paused, a little confused as to why Aries wouldn’t know him, until a thought flickered through his mind. It sounded impossible for a human from the Twenty-First Century, but he remembered one of the remarks the Slitheen had said as well as the Dalek. “Are you the doctor?” he asked, a frown tugged at his lips as he noticed Aries fiddling with her gloves.

“Doctor Constantine,” another voice spoke up, causing the Doctor to startle until he noticed Constantine behind Aries as the older man attempted to stand up. Aries was by his side in an instant as she helped him to his feet as he continued, “And you are?”

The Doctor hesitated, his eyes going between Aries and Constantine, a little unsure as to what he could actually say. If his theory was correct and this was somehow his Nesdra’s past, the Doctor had to be very cautious as to what he could tell her and was rather concerned about Aries having another confrontation with his companion, who was on a rather very thin rope after the fiasco she had caused on their last trip. If the Doctor hadn’t realised where Aries had gone, he had been certain that his companion would have been dropped off at home without a second thought.

“Nancy sent me,” the Time Lord decided to say, causing Aries to look at him in surprise. Nancy hadn’t spoken to her about seeing anyone new the last time they had spoken, let alone an older man. The children would have run the moment they spotted him.

“You know Nancy?” the red head asked, turning away from her mentor and to the Doctor.

“But that means you must’ve been asking about the bomb,” Doctor Constantine injected before Aries could get a response.

The Doctor turned to Constantine, “Yes,” he replied, knowing that _that_ was something he could talk about. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk with Aries, but if she didn’t know him, he didn’t want to change anything, whether it be her future or his past. That thought had the Time Lord pausing, realising that Aries had gone through exactly what he was currently living through multiple times before and he couldn’t help but wonder if they would ever meet up in order.

The moment Aries heard that the newcomer had been asking about the bomb, her mind immediately focussed. “What do you know about it?” she asked the Doctor with a frown, wondering if he could give her anymore insight into whatever the virus the Germans had used, she could get one step closer to stopping it from spreading any further.

The Doctor shook his head, “Nothing. Why I was asking,” he told them and Aries felt her heart drop into her stomach, her hopes for a cure dashed. The Time Lord looked concerned when he saw Aries expression and he once again glanced between the two as Constantine grabbed one of Aries gloved hands and gave it a gentle pat.

“What do you know?” the Doctor asked the man, wanting to figure out why Aries was looking so dejected. Seeing her fallen expression made him want to do whatever it took to get her dejected look to disappear.

“Only what it’s done,” Constantine replied as his gaze swept over the patients before falling onto Aries’ gloved hands, a sad expression on his face at what the young red head was going through.

Glancing around, the Doctor looked rather confused as he noticed how many patients were in this ward, let alone the others. “These people, they were all caught up in the blast?” he asked, finding it rather odd that so many people had been injured by something that hadn’t even exploded. Though the Time Lord didn’t believe that what he had followed through the vortex was a bomb.

Constantine shook his head with a small, humourless chuckle, “None of them were,” he managed to explain before he started coughing. Aries pursed her lips as she guided Constantine back to the chair by the desk where the ward nurse would normally be, glancing at the other man as he watched them closely.

“You’re very sick,” the Doctor pointed out to Constantine with a frown before his blue eyes shifted to Aries in concern, worried that whatever Constantine had, she might catch.

“Dying, I should think,” Constantine agreed as Aries helped him sit in the chair, “I just haven’t been able to find the time.”

Aries grabbed his hand as she cut in, “And it’s not the time now,” the thought of losing another friend leaving a very bitter taste in her mouth.

Squeezing her hand a little, Constantine tried to give her some comfort, but he knew that his time was up. He looked to the newcomer who was watching them oddly, “Are you a doctor?” he asked, wanting to know if there was anyone else who could help Aries.

The red head was like a daughter to him and having spent the last three years teaching her everything he knew, he really hoped that there was a way to save her. Constantine knew that there was something remarkable about Aries and was saddened at the thought of leaving her behind with no one to help her or be there to support her.

“I have my moments,” the Doctor admitted as he glanced between the two, noticing once again Aries’ gloved hands. They weren’t surgical gloves or any type of medical form, just a simple pair of black, leather gloves and he was curious to know why she was wearing them. He had never seen _Aries_ wearing gloves before and it wasn’t a particularly cold night.

“Have you examined any of the patients yet?” Aries quickly asked, her eyes giving away her alarm at the possibility of someone else becoming infected. She took a step towards the man, glancing at his hands but was unable to see the tell-tale sign of a scar.

“No,” the Doctor replied with a frown before he headed towards a patient, pulling his sonic screwdriver from his jacket.

“Don’t touch the flesh,” Aries exclaimed, taking another step away from Constantine, though she didn’t move too far away from her mentor.

The Doctor paused and looked up from the patients the had just been about to examine when he heard Aries tone. “Which one?” he asked her, curious as to what had her so....panicked. It was not an emotion he had seen coming from the red head before.

If anything, Aries Prince, was one of the most level-headed humans he had ever come across. Her ability to separate emotions from logical thinking to work out any problem she encountered was something that had surprised and intrigued him. So seeing her like this worried him and also confirmed further for the Time Lord that this was his Nesdra’s past.

“Any one,” Constantine answered as he reached out to take Aries hand and squeezed it weakly. He knew how she felt about the virus and that she still hadn’t found a way to stop its spread. Her knowledge on medicine and the way she tended to patients was something he never seen before, and Constantine knew how she felt about failure.

The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at one of the patients, drawing Aries’ attention when she heard a faint buzzing sound. She frowned as she cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing on him as she watched him. She knew that the device the Doctor was using, whatever form of sonic technology it was shouldn’t be here. It was something she knew was way to advance for this time period, let alone any time period she had lived in, past or future.

It made the red head question whether or not this was the person who had left her the note when she had awoken here, though the Doctor didn’t really look the type to call someone, ‘Sweetie’. Aries nose wrinkled at that thought, shaking her head. _No, whoever left me the letter was female,_ she thought, remembering the scent she had noticed after waking up in that bed.

As Aries watched the Doctor scan the patient however, she couldn’t help but wonder if that female knew she would encounter someone with advanced technology and why. The red head still didn’t like the idea that there was someone out there who knew who and what she was and was still waiting for the day when she would eventually meet them.

“Conclusions?” Constantine asked, breaking Aries from her thoughts.

The Doctor muttered as he seemed to read the device, causing Aries to watch him curiously, having read about sonic technology but never seen it working in person. “Massive head trauma, mainly to the left side. Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There’s some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can’t see any burns,” he told them as he looked to them in confusion, noticing Aries’ curious gaze.

“Examine another one,” Constantine told him, and the Time Lord did.

“This isn’t possible,” the Doctor said after he had checked another patient, looking to Constantine and Aries in confusion.

“Examine another,” Aries suggested this time. She was curious about the Doctor, but she also was curious about the device he was using. She couldn’t help but compare it to a wand, how it was able to scan the bodies in much the same way as she had once done while training under her father.

The Doctor moved onto another patient after he glanced at Aries, wondering why she wanted him to do so. But as he scanned the next patient, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes widened when his sonic came up with the exact same readings from the patient he had scanned before. “This isn’t possible,” he breathed, moving onto another.

“No,” Constantine admitted.

“They’ve all got the same injuries,” the Doctor exclaimed, looking to the pair as he moved onto another patient.

“Yes,” Constantine agreed, though he glanced at Aries when she shook her head.

“Exactly the same,” the Doctor continued, not seeing Aries expression as he move to the next bed.

“Yes,” Constantine repeated.

The Doctor glanced down to the patient he was scanning, “Identical, all of them, right down,” the man glanced at the hand of the victim before his eyes widened and looked to Constantine, “To the scar on the back of the hand,” he breathed, looking between Constantine and Aries. His eyes lingered on Aries, before flicking down to her hands, but with her gloves he couldn’t tell if she had been infected.

Aries fidgeted slightly, one of her hands picking at the glove on the other. She still wasn’t to sure why the virus hadn’t effected her as it had the others. She didn’t even feel any different than usual. The only effect she seemed to have was that her hand that was scarred got itchy at times, nothing else.

“How did this happen?” the Doctor demanded, his eyes still on Aries’ hands, hoping that she wasn’t like Constantine, that she didn’t have a scar, “How did it start?” he continued, managing to force himself to look at Constantine.

“When the bomb dropped, there was just one victim,” Constantine explained.

“Dead?” the Doctor questioned.

“At first,” Aries spoke up quietly, saddened at the memory, “His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries,” she took a breath, her finger running over the scar hidden by her glove. She had been one of the first marked, one of the first infected. The moment she had seen that it was Jamie, she hadn’t even thought, she just did.

“By the morning after that,” Constantine continued for her, knowing how she felt about the little boy, “Every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injures as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?”

The Time Lord, who had been frowning at Aries as she spoke, looked to Constantine as he answered, “Head trauma.”

Aries’ lip turned upwards slightly in bitterness, knowing where Constantine was going with the conversation when he replied in the negative.

“Asphyxiation,” the Doctor guessed again.

“No,” Constantine denied again.

The Doctor seemed to grow confused as he continued, “The collapse of the chest cavity.”

“No,” Constantine denied once more as Aries looked sadly at the patients.

The Doctor looked between Constantine and Aries, rather bewildered as he had just named off each injury that could have caused the patients death. “All right,” he said, “What was the cause of death?” he asked.

It was Aries who answered him this time, “There wasn’t one,” she admitted, “They’re not dead,” she clarified when the Time Lord looked at her like she had grown another head.

Constantine grabbed his walking stick and hit a waste basket and the noise made all the patients sit up in their beds, startling the Doctor and causing Aries to shiver. Even if she had seen it happen before, it was still unnatural for someone who had no pulse to move. It reminded her to much of an Inferius, even if she knew that dark magic, let alone necromancy was impossible to occur in this world. She was, as far as she knew, the only witch in this world, in this universe.

“It’s all right,” Constantine said calmingly, grabbing Aries’ hand to comfort her, “They’re harmless. They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just don’t die.”

Aries felt another shiver pass up her spine at Constantine’s words. _Too much like Inferi,_ she thought as she eyed the patients, _At least they’re not trying to kill anyone._

“And they’ve just been left here?” the Doctor questioned as the patients all laid back down in their beds, “Nobody’s doing anything?”

“We try and make them comfortable,” Aries explained, drawing her gaze away from the patients and back to the man, “What else is there?”

The Doctor couldn’t help but smile a little at her words. _At least some things don’t change,_ he thought, knowing that Aries wasn’t the type of person to let someone suffer if she could help them, even if they didn’t like her. “Just you two? You’re the only ones here?” he asked.

Constantine’s hand tightened around Aries’ as he spoke, “Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather,” Aries’ looked down sadly, knowing that Constantine had lost his son and granddaughter to this war, “Now I am neither.”

The Doctor eyed the pair, a look of sympathy on his face. “Yeah, I know the feeling,” he admitted quietly, causing Aries to glance at him sadly.

“But I am still a doctor,” Constantine continued, “And Aries is as close to a daughter to me as one could be who isn’t related by blood or marriage,” he added as he looked to Aries proudly.

“We suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb,” Aries explained, starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the way the Doctor was watching them. It was one thing to talk to he man about medical things, but she didn’t even know the Doctor, let alone want to talk to him about loss.

The Doctor glanced around at the patients, hiding the small smile that had formed on his lips at the way Aries had diverted the conversation back to why he was here. Emotions and even talking about herself was something the Time Lord knew Aries had a hard time expressing. Even after all this time, he still knew very little about her, though he found her shyness endearing. “Probably too late,” he told them after a moment.

“No,” Aries denied.

Constantine nodded his head in agreement, “There are isolated cases. Isolated cases breaking out all over London,” he seemed to double over in his seat, causing Aries to turn her attention to him as she knelt in front of him. The Doctor stepped closer, but Constantine continued, causing him to pause, “Stay back, stay back,” he warned. “Listen to me,” he continued, looking between the man and Aries, “Top floor. Room eight oh two. That’s where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site.”

Aries, who had done a quick scan of Constantine with her magic, shook her head, realising that her mentor was finally losing the battle against the virus.

“You must,” Constantine said firmly, leaving no room for arguments. He looked to the Doctor, who he found watching Aries sadly as the Time Lord realised that Aries wasn’t as unaffected from the virus as he had hoped, “And you must find Nancy again.”

“Nancy?” the Doctor questioned, managing to tear his eyes away from Aries. Why in the world would Constantine want him to find Nancy, the Time Lord didn’t know, but there was no way he was leaving Aries while she needed him, even if she didn’t actually know him.

Constantine nodded, “It was her brother. She knows more than she’s saying. She won’t tell me,” he looked to Aries who was still kneeling in front of him, “But she m...mi.” Constantine began to struggle with his words, causing Aries to back away, “Mig....mi....Mummy.”

Aries let out a sob as she dropped her hands to the floor, her head falling forwards. She knew what was happening, having seen it countless times before, but was unable to bring herself to watch someone she had called a friend and mentor go through the same thing.

“Are you my mummy?” Constantine asked, his voice coming out childlike before his mouth started to change, along with the rest of his face, into a gas mask.

“No,” Aries whispered as she looked up sadly at her mentor as he slumped in the chair, knowing that it was over. She shook her head, not wanting to accept what she was seeing and her hands balled into fists as her determination grew to figure out what had taken her friend. She wouldn’t see anyone else die, not if she could stop it.

The Doctor watched Aries sadly, wanting to comfort her. He didn’t move, however. He had seen the way Constantine had interacted with her, and the way she had fiddled with her gloves unconsciously whenever the virus was mentioned told him that she had already contracted it. It didn’t stop the need, the drive to comfort her, though, but he directed that drive to figuring out what was going on here.

He wouldn’t loose Aries. He couldn’t. Not after just finding her again.


	4. Mummy?

“Hello?” a males voice called from outside the ward, causing Aries head to snap in the direction it came from, though she frowned when she realised the voice was American.

“Hello?” a females voice followed and the red head glanced at the Doctor, wondering if the man had come alone, but seeing his confused expression, Aries figured that he was just as unsure as she was.

“Hello?” the males voice repeated and Aries stood up, giving her mentor one last look before she followed after the Doctor.

“Good evening,” a man that was dressed in an officers uniform greeted them, a blonde female beside him. “I hope we’re not interrupting,” the man continued, looking between Aries and the Doctor before approaching the red head. He went to shake her hand, but the Doctor intercepted him with his own, earning a curious look from the American, but otherwise said nothing about the Doctor’s actions.

“Jack Harkness,” the man introduce with a grin, “I’ve been hearing all about you on the way over.”

Aries raised an eyebrow at the blonde, noticing that the young woman was glaring at her, although the moment the blonde realised she was being watched, her expression changed as she turned her attention back to the Doctor.

“He knows,” she explained to the Doctor, “I had to tell him about us being Time Agents.”

“And it’s a real pleasure to meet you, Mister Spock,” Jack said before turning to Aries, “And who might you be?” he asked with what he thought was a charming smile.

Aries was about to say something when the Doctor cut in smoothly, “None of your concern,” he told the American, his eyes narrowing in warning.

Jack just raised an eyebrow before winking at a confused Aries as he passed her, heading towards the room they had just come from. The red head looked to the Doctor, unsure as to why he felt that she couldn’t speak for herself before she registered what Jack had said.

“Mister Spock?” she questioned, looking to the Doctor. The red head was certain that Star Trek hadn’t come out until the late sixties, but the comment about Time Agents had her pausing as she looked between the Doctor and the blonde, the former who was giving the latter a questionable look.

“What was I supposed to say?” the blonde remarked, ignoring Aries as she focused on the Doctor, “You don’t have a name. Don’t you ever get tired of ‘Doctor’? Doctor who?” she questioned, causing Aries to glance at the man in confusion. She couldn’t help it though, finding that the name Doctor was quite strange.

The Doctor glanced to Aries, finding her watching him looking rather confused. He turned back to his companion and shrugged, “Nine centuries in, I’m coping,” he said, perking Aries’ interest as she eyed the man, unsure whether to take his comment seriously or not. Although she couldn’t really talk, having just turned sixty-six herself and didn’t look a day over twenty.

“Where’ve you been?” the Doctor continued and Aries realised that the blonde must be with the Doctor, “We’re in the middle of the London Blitz. It’s no time for a stroll.”

The red head watched the pair curiously, sparing a glance to Jack who was inside the ward. The comment the blonde had made about Time Agent’s had her rather confused and the way they were talking about the Second World War was as if it was history to them. But time travel shouldn’t be possible....could it?

“Who’s strolling?” the blonde asked, sounding rather uncaring about what was happening around her, “I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid.”

“What?!” the Doctor balked while Aries just looked to her with a raised eyebrow, not having missed the shirt the blonde was wearing.

“Listen,” the blonde continued, brushing away his concern while ignoring Aries, “What’s a Chula warship?” she questioned.

“Chula?” Aries and the Doctor questioned together, the former glancing to the latter. Aries was starting to suspect that she had stumbled across something much bigger than just a virus. The way these people were talking, the words they were using, Aries shook her head. _But time travel couldn’t be possible,_ she told herself, even though she had read books that were clearly from the future.

She glanced to the Doctor and the blonde in confusion before returning to the ward. Aries had time travelled herself back at Hogwarts, turning back days to spend time with her father and Amelia, but in this universe....it should be impossible.

But as Aries observed Jack as he scanned the patients in a similar way the Doctor had, but with a device on his wrist, she couldn’t help but admit that time travel may not be as impossible as she had once thought. The technology both men had were definitely not from this time period and Aries paused when she thought of something. _Why are they here, then?_ she questioned as her eyes narrowed on Jack before she glanced back to the Doctor and his companion as they entered the room, _And what did he mean by ‘nine centuries’?_

“This just isn’t possible,” Jack stated as he looked up from the patient he had just scanned. “How did this happen?” he asked Aries.

Before she could answer, the Doctor cut in with a question of his own. “What kind of Chula ship landed here?” the Time Lord demanded, surprising Aries with his tone, though she would admit that if there really was Chula ship here, it really wasn’t good. Time travel was dangerous enough without the need to bring something from the future and leave it in the past.

“What?” Jack questioned in surprise, having not expected the question, nor the tone of the Doctor’s voice.

“He said it was a warship,” the blonde beside the Doctor explained, “He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb’s going to fall on it unless we make him an offer.”

Aries frowned as she looked to Jack as she tried to piece together what she was hearing, trying to understand why there seemed to be three time travellers in the hospital where she worked during the Second World War of all times. It wasn’t hard to gather that Jack was a conman after hearing about him wanting the others to make him an offer on something, but she was rather confused as to why the Doctor wanted to know what type of warship Jack had brought with him.

“What kind of warship?” the Doctor demanded again as he eyed the conman.

Jack glanced at the Time Lord, “Does it matter? It’s got nothing to do with this,” he denied any involvement in the patients around him.

“This started at the bomb site,” the Doctor said, his eyes narrowing on the man, knowing that somehow Jack was behind what was going on with Aries, “It’s got everything to do with it,” he added with a glare.

Freezing on the spot, Aries eyes snapped to Jack as her mind pieced together the puzzle, although some parts were still missing. “That isn’t a German bomb, is it?” she cut in as she realised why those British soldiers had been so interested in the bomb. It wasn’t a bomb at all, but a fifty-first century spaceship. But that also meant something that made Aries see red.

“This virus, whatever it is has nothing to do with them, does it?” she seethed, understanding that what had happened to Jamie, to Constantine and the others had nothing to do with the war, but everything to do with the conman in front of her.

She took a step towards Jack, her eyes flashing at the thought that this man....this utter dunderhead was responsible for everything she had witnessed and lived through over the last few weeks. Magic curled around Aries, whipping up a breeze that encircled around her as the red head’s agitation manifested itself in a physical force. In her anger, the red head didn’t even register that the scar on the back of her hand started to itch again as it took on a faint red glow.

“You utter dunderhead,” she hissed, pointing at Jack and caused the man to look at her with wide eyes as the device on his wrist started beeping wildly. Aries didn’t hear it however, as she gestured around the room, “All these people, you’re responsible for their deaths,” she told him harshly before she stopped short. Her anger faded as she just stared at her hand for a moment.

The Doctor couldn’t stop himself as he took a step towards Aries, wanting to comfort her as the red heads expression became so lost and unsure as she looked back to Jack.

“What did you do?” Aries asked the conman, needing to know. If it wasn’t a virus from the German's and something from the future, she had no idea how she could stop it, no idea how to heal herself.

The Doctor frowned as he saw Aries’ shoulders drop, wanting to comfort her but knew he couldn’t. His eyes landed on Jack and they narrowed. _All because of him,_ he thought angrily. The Time Lord knew that he'd do anything to help Aries work out what happened and fix it. He couldn’t lose her, not now. It would change his past and her future and there was no way he was going to stand by and let that happen. “What kind of warship?” he demanded.

Jack, who had been staring at Aries, looked between the three. He needed to get them to see that this wasn’t his fault. “It was an ambulance!” he told them, lifting up his wrist and revealing his tricorder, silencing its beeping as he did so. “Look,” he brought up a hologram of an ambulance that looked like the ship the Doctor had followed, glancing at Aries curiously as he did so.

Aries eyed the hologram, looking the ship over. It was not anything she had seen before, although she had read about them. It looked very basic in design compared to other ships she knew an actual Chula warship looked like and figured that they had mass produced them for a war. The technology inside the ships, however....Aries frowned, realising that she wasn’t to sure what to expect in a fifty-first century ambulance.

“That’s what you chased through the Time Vortex,” the conman explained to the Doctor, “It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It’s empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle,” that had Aries glancing at the Doctor rather surprised, “Love the retro look by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait-“

“Bait?” the blonde cut in, sounding rather confused. Aries looked to her and couldn’t help but wonder how she didn’t know that Jack was a conman. It wasn’t that hard to piece together, although Aries did have the advantage of having learnt how to read people from her father. Severus Snape was not a man of many words and a lot of what he expressed, he did so with expressions or gestures, not words.

“I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found it was junk,” Jack continued, drawing Aries back to the conversation.

“You said it was a warship,” the blonde stated with a frown, crossing her arms over her chest.

“They have ambulances in wars,” Aries spoke up as she looked at Jack with nothing but disgust, missing the blonde shoot her a glare. “He’s just a conman,” she spat before she turned away and walked towards a corner of the room away from the others. The red head knew she needed to calm down, knowing that trying to think while angry was not going to do her any favours. She needed to concentrate and figure out what Jack had done and work out if there was a way to stop it before what had happened to the others happens to her.

The conman watched Aries walk away, glancing down to his tricorder and read the results that had sent it wild beforehand. Hiding his surprise by the readings, he looked to the other two time travellers, only to find the Doctor glaring at him while Rose was frowning. “I was conning you,” he admitted, silently wondering what the Time Lords problem was. He had been glaring at him ever since he had tried to shake the red head’s hand. “She’s right, I’m a conman. I thought you were Time Agents. You’re not, are you?” he questioned.

Rose shrugged, “Just a couple more freelancers,” she admitted.

Jack couldn’t help but groan when he heard that. “Oh. Should have known. The way you guys are blending in with the local colour. At least she blends in,” he said, gesturing to Aries who had turned to him in surprise, “Even with her high energy readings,” he muttered to himself, glancing at his wrist before refocusing on the two time travellers. He wasn’t to sure where the red head fit, but she definitely wasn’t as surprised as he had expected her to be after hearing about time travel.

“But you two,” he continued, gesturing at Rose as he got his mind back on track, “I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-boat Captain?” he shook his head, “Anyway, whatever’s happening here has got nothing to do with that ship.”

“What is happening here, Doctor?” Rose questioned.

The Doctor looked away from Aries as he replied, unable to help but glare at the conman, “Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot.”

Rose just looked at the Doctor in confusion. “What do you mean?” she asked.

The Doctor sighed, glancing to Aries. “I don’t know. Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things,” he gestured around the room, “But why? What’s the point?” he questioned aloud.

“Does there need to be?” Aries asked, looking at the three.

Before anyone could answer her, Aries let out a hiss, grabbing the wrist of her scarred hand as it started to burn. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that the Doctor had taken a step towards her and was quick to take a step away as she shook her head, not wanting to possibly infect anyone. “No,” she told him before her eyes landed on her gloved hand, her eyebrows furrowing. It had never burned before.

Suddenly, all the patients sat up in their beds. “Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?” the repeated in a child-like voice.

“What’s happening?” Rose questioned as she moved closer to the Doctor, startled by their movements.

The Doctor looked between the patients and Aries. “I don’t know,” he admitted. He had to fight the urge to make sure Aries was okay. Whatever was happening here, it was affecting her as well, but it wasn’t like the others. He knew that there was something different with Aries, something that set her apart from the average human and as much as he wanted to continue to figure it out, the Time Lord wasn’t happy about seeing her in pain again.

The patients stood beside their beds, along with Doctor Constantine as they continued to repeat the word, “Mummy?”.

They started to head towards the Doctor, Rose and Jack and Aries’ eyes widened in alarm. “Don’t let them touch you,” she warned, trying to control her breathing as the pain in her hand grew. She ripped off the glove and stared at the scar, startled that it was pulsing red energy. The same red energy she had seen when her father had sent her away from Hogwarts. The same red energy that, every since that day, had appeared whenever she used her magic.

“What happens if they touch us?” Rose asked as the trio backed away from the approaching patients.

“You’re looking at it,” the Doctor stated as he tore his gaze from Aries and back to the patients.

“Help me, mummy.”

Aries watched on helplessly as the Doctor, Jack, and Rose found themselves cornered, their backs against a wall.

“Mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?” the patients chanted as they each raised an arm, reaching out to the trio.


	5. Powerful And Angry

“Mummy?” the patients continued to ask as they reached for the Doctor, Rose and Jack as the trio were backed up against a wall.

The Doctor looked in Aries direction when he heard her whimper in pain and knew he needed to do something. He turned his attention back to the patients as he took a step forwards. “Go to your room!” he ordered, not unlike how an angry parent would tell a child.

It looked to work as the patients all stopped their advance, dropping their outstretched arms as they tilted their head’s at the Time Lord.

Seeing that his actions got a positive response, the Doctor continued, “Go to your room. I mean it. I’m very, very angry with you. I’m very, very cross,” he pointed in a random direction, “Go to your room!”

Aries watched on in disbelief as the patients all hung their heads in shame before shuffling back to the beds. The burning sensation in her hand stopped and she looked to it, finding that the scar wasn’t pulsing red anymore. She let out a relieved breath as she turned in the Doctor’s direction as he spoke.

“I’m really glad that worked,” the Time Lord chuckled, “Those would have been terrible last words,” he added before quickly sobering as he looked to Aries. He quickly walked over to her and knelt down in front of her, though he made sure not to get too close. “Are you okay,” he asked her, looking to the mark on the back of her hand and confirming that his Nesdra had been infected, before into her silver-grey eyes.

Aries swallowed as she met his gaze, “I’m not sure,” she admitted as she looked back down to her hand. Her eyebrows furrowed as she realised that she had no idea what was happening anymore. She knew that being a witch meant she wasn’t truly a normal human, let alone that what ever was happening with the virus was from the future, but the red head had never experienced anything like that energy before. Aries had seen the energy before, but had never put much thought into it. She had assumed that it was a part of the spell her father had used to send her here and was just a bit of residual energy that appeared when she used her magic, but now she was getting the feeling that there was a lot more to it.

“Why are they all wearing gas masks?” Rose questioned, breaking the silence. She didn’t like how the Doctor’s attention was on the red head and Rose wasn’t to sure how she was even there. It just seemed that the moment they had met her, Aries hadn’t been able to leave them alone, though it wasn’t until their last adventure that Rose realised that Aries had truly never left her alone, having found that the red head was close friends with Mickey’s Gran as well as Mickey himself.

It was Jack who replied, “They’re not. Those masks are flesh and bone.”

The Doctor watched as Aries replaced the glove on her hand, fighting the need to grab it. He stood up, telling himself that as much as he wanted to comfort her, she didn’t know him, nor did she need it. The many times had he thought she needed help, only for Aries to surprise him had told him that it wasn’t his help she needed, but his support.

The way her mind worked, being able to separate emotions from her answers, not letting how she felt sway her judgement was something the Doctor admired about Aries. But the Time Lord had also found after their last couple of encounters that Aries was not one who expected to have someone support her. It made him question what her life was like before she moved to England.

“How was your con supposed to work?” Aries asked Jack, breaking the Doctor from his thoughts.

“Simple enough, really,” Jack stated with a frown, not having missed how the Doctor hadn’t gotten close to the red head. If she was infected, it could explain some of the odd readings his tricorder had gotten off her, but it didn’t explain the power spike and energy that she had produced. “Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it’s valuable, name a price,” he continued, “When he puts fifty percent up front, oops! A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever.”

Aries eyes narrowed on the man as she listened, realising that this wasn’t the first time Jack had done something like this.

“He never gets to see what he’s paid for, never knows he’s been had. I buy him a drink with his own money, we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor said sarcastically, “Perfect.”

Jack shrugged, “The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though, but you’ve got to set your alarm for volcano day....” he trailed off when he noticed the Doctor glaring at him and the dark look on Aries’ face. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was more scared of Aries than of the Doctor, and he still hadn’t figured out who or what she was. “Getting the hint of disapproval,” he finished.

Aries took a step towards the American, ”Over sixteen thousand people died when Vesuvius erupted and another thirty-two thousand died during this Blitz,” she hissed, “Disapproval is the last thing I’m hinting at. Take a-“ she was cut off when the Doctor stepped in front of her, causing Aries to frown when he continued from where she stopped.

“Take a look around the room,” the Doctor was glaring at Jack, “This is what your harmless piece of space junk did.”

“It was a burnt-out medical transporter,” Jack exclaimed as Aries frowned when she noticed Constantine was now in one of the beds, “It was empty.”

“Eight oh two,” Aries muttered, remembering the room her mentor had mentioned. She knew it was Jamie’s old room, but didn’t know why he wanted her to check it out. Aries hadn’t been able to step inside the room since this whole mess had started and couldn’t help but wonder if Constantine knew something she didn’t. With that thought in mind, she headed out of the ward.

“Rose,” the Doctor called to the blonde as he followed Aries, having heard her comment.

“Are we getting out of here?” Rose asked.

Shaking her head, Aries replied, “No, we’re going upstairs.” For some reason, Constantine had wanted her and the Doctor to look at the room and she was going to figure out why.

“I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn’t land on anything living,” Jack continued on trying to explain how he had nothing to do with what was happening as he watched the pair leave, “I harmed no-one. I don’t know what’s happening here, but believe me, I had nothing to do with it.”

The Doctor stopped walking and turned back to the man when he saw Aries stiffen. “I’ll tell you what’s happening. You forgot to set your alarm clock. It’s volcano day,” he told Jack, and as if agreeing with his words, a siren sounded in the distance.

“What’s that?” Rose questioned.

“The all clear,” Aries replied as she turned away from the Doctor and Jack, a little confused as to why the Doctor was getting so upset over what was happening. As she continued to head out of the ward, Aries couldn’t help but remember the level of concern she had noticed in the Time Lord’s eyes earlier had been a little discomforting, although rather....nice as well.

“I wish,” the Doctor said, as he turned away from Jack and continued to follow Aries. He didn’t see Aries frown at his words as she couldn’t help but agree.

There was something seriously wrong here and it started upstairs.

\----

Aries glanced at the Time Lord as he spoke quietly as they walked up a flight of stairs that led to Jamie’s room.

“How long?” the Doctor asked, nodding to her hand. He wasn’t too sure where Rose and Jack were, but he found he didn’t really care where his wayward companion was. It was the first time in so long that he had a chance to speak with Aries alone without Rose interrupting or Aries disappearing on him.

He couldn’t really blame Aries, however. He knew after what happened with Rose's father that Aries had no control over where she had gone. Whoever the brunette woman was, he wanted to find out. How she could travel through time, let alone get Aries to go through what looked to the Time Lord like a portal or wormhole was something he was still trying to figure out.

“I was one of the first,” Aries’ quiet voice broke the Doctor from his thoughts and he looked to her with a frown.

“How?” he questioned, rather confused. Though it hadn’t been the first time he had questioned what exactly Aries was and he felt like it wouldn’t be the last time, either. Aries had always been rather dismissive of any questions in regards to herself, though once again, he couldn’t really blame her.

“How am I not one of them?” Aries replied, nodding in the direction they had come from. “I’m not entirely sure,” she admitted after a moment, pausing on the steps.

“But you have a theory,” the Doctor continued, already knowing that if Aries had been thinking this problem over for the last few weeks, she’d have much more than a theory. He really did marvel at how her mind worked, being able to work things out in seconds rather than minutes.

Aries nodded, “I do,” she agreed with a frown. It seemed like she was going to say something else, but Aries just shook her head before continuing up the stairs.

“And?” the Doctor pressed, causing Aries to pause and glance back at him. “Maybe I can help,” he offered, hoping she would open up a little.

Since meeting Aries in 2006....well, 2005 if you count Eris, the Doctor had learnt next to nothing about Aries except that she has different kinds of abilities, hasn’t seemed to aged in over sixty years, had some very weird friends, and had knowledge of things no human should know thanks to a library that the red head has access to.

His Nesdra was a mystery in so many ways and although he wanted to ask her one of the thousands of questions circling his mind, the Time Lord knew he couldn’t push her too much. That had only caused Aries to grow defensive and close up.

Aries raised an eyebrow at the Doctor's fishing. She found the man a little odd, but also someone the red head felt she could trust. It did make her a little wary and she fell back into an attitude that seemed to be ingrain into her very DNA.

Her lip quirked upwards and the Doctor couldn’t help but sigh as he realised she wasn’t going to answer him. “How does one live to be over nine centuries?” Aries questioned. She was the daughter of the Head Of House for Slytherin, she wasn’t going to be giving away her secrets for nothing, no matter how trusting the man seemed to be.

The Doctor suddenly turned serious, causing Aries’ other eyebrow to raise in surprise as he replied, “I moisturise,” grinning when Aries couldn’t help but snicker at his expression.

“Mister Spock?” Jack’s voice called from a lower level, but before Aries could ask about why Jack thought that was the Doctor's name, Rose's voice was also heard, “Doctor?”

Aries glanced at the Doctor as the Time Lord lent over the railing of the stairs, just seeing Rose and Jack run past below. “Have you got a blaster?” the Time Lord called, causing Aries to become confused, wondering what he wanted a gun for.

Jack and Rose turned back when they heard the Doctor, the American shouting that he did. They met Aries and the Doctor outside a secure metal door.

“The night your space junk landed, someone was hurt,” the Doctor said as Jack pulled out his blaster, “This is where they were taken.”

The red head found that she couldn’t stop the frown from forming on her face as she stared at the door, making sure to keep to the side. She was grateful she was wearing her coat and gloves, but she wasn’t going to risk touching anyone and passing the virus to them. Aries couldn’t help but feel tense about entering the room. There was something about the room that had the hairs on her arms raising, a churning felling start to grow in her gut.

“What happened?” Rose questioned the Time Lord.

“Let’s find out,” the Doctor replied, gesturing to Jack to open the door, “Get it open.”

“What’s wrong with your sonic screwdriver?” Rose asked the Doctor quietly, earning a questionable look from Aries at the name.

The Doctor grinned, “Nothing,” he said as Jack disintegrated the lock on the door, leaving a square hole in the door. “Sonic blaster, fifty-first century. Weapons Factories of Villengard?” he asked Jack knowingly, noticing Aries looking at Jack’s work with a frown.

“You’ve been to the factories?” Jack questioned in surprise.

The Time Lord looked back to the man, smirking. “Once,” he replied, almost casually.

“Well, they’re gone now, destroyed,” Jack explained, “The main reactor went critical. Vaporized the lot.”

Aries looked to the man, having heard what they were talking about. To hear that a weapons factory had been destroyed didn’t seem to be a small feat in the red heads mind. She may never have seen one, but the information she knew about them said there was nothing small about them.

The Doctor caught Aries’ eye. “Like I said. Once,” he said and Aries raised an eyebrow as she wondered if he had anything to do with it. It was only confirmed a moment later as the Doctor continued, “There’s a banana grove there now,” and Aries eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The Doctor shrugged, seeing her expression, “I like bananas. Bananas are good.”

Aries tilted her head, finding the Doctor quite a character. She shook her head, her eyebrows still slightly furrowed as she entered Jamie’s room, feeling a shiver go down her spine as her shoulder’s tensed further.

Rose frowned as she watched the Doctor follow after Aries, not having missed that his attention always seemed to be directed solely on the red head whenever she was around. The blonde glanced at Jack as a smile formed on her lips as she got an idea before she started to admire his handy work on the door. “Nice blast pattern,” she told the American.

“Digital,” Jack said with a shrug, not seeing her point.

“Squareness gun,” Rose continued.

Jack had to fight back an eye roll, realising what the blonde was doing, “Yeah,” he said.

“I like it,” Rose said with a smile as she followed after the Doctor and Aries, missing Jack roll his eyes at her ‘flirting'.

\----

Aries looked around the room, her body stiff as the wrongness of the room didn’t disappear, causing the witch to rely on her occlumency skills to stop it from overwhelming her. She hadn’t been able to enter this room after the incident that had killed Jamie. She knew that this was where they had kept him, smelling the young boy’s scent everywhere, but what she hadn’t been expecting is how ruined the room was.

Open filing cabinets littered the floor around them with files and paperwork, broken electronic equipment was just left abandoned where it lay, and the observation window across the room from Aries was shattered.

“What do you think?” the Doctor asked as he watched Aries walk around the room, noticing her stiff posture and unease. It made him curious to know if she was getting the same feeling he was, although he really shouldn’t have been surprised.

Jack glanced around the ruined room, “Something got out of here,” he stated as he kept an eye on Aries. He was still curious about what exactly she was, even though his tricorder was telling him that she was a twentieth century human, but the former Time Agent couldn’t help but feel a nagging sensation of familiarity with the red head. He just couldn’t work out why for the life of him.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes, clearly seeing that. “Yeah. And?” he asked, looking to Jack, only for his eyes to narrow when he realised the American was watching Aries.

“Something powerful. Angry,” Jack amended, raising an eyebrow when he noticed the Doctor glaring at him.

Aries, oblivious to the others, was looking at some drawings that littered the floor before her gaze landed on a Steiff teddy bear. “Powerful and angry,” she muttered, leaning down to pick up the bear. _Oh, Jamie,_ she thought as she glanced back to the drawing’s, trying to see what her old mentor had wanted her to see.

“A child?” Jack stated in surprise, seeing Aries pick up the bear, “I suppose this explains Mummy,” he added as an afterthought.

The pieces fell into place in Aries mind and she inhaled sharply as she picked up one of the drawings, wondering how she had never seen it before. “Jamie,” she said quietly as she looked the picture over. It was a drawing of a little boy holding the hand of an older woman who looked suspiciously like Nancy. The word ‘Mummy’ was written above the figure. “How didn’t I see it?” she muttered in despair.

“How could a child do this?” Rose questioned, looking to the Doctor as he made his way over to a tape machine before pressing the play button.

 _“_ _Do you know where you are?”_ the voice of Doctor Constantine asked.

 _“_ _Are you my mummy?”_ Jamie questioned.

“She never told him,” Aries whispered as she continued to listen to the tape, her eyes never leaving the drawing.

 _“_ _Are you aware of what’s around you? Can you see?”_ Constantine continued to question.

 _“_ _Are you my mummy?”_ Jamie repeated.

 _“_ _What do you want? Do you know?”_ Constantine continued.

 _“_ _I want my mummy. Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?”_ Jamie questioned, his voice growing hysterical as the tape continued.

“Doctor,” Rose said, “I’ve heard this voice before.”

The Doctor nodded, glancing at Aries and noticing the sad look on her face, “Me too,” he said.

 _“_ _Mummy?”_ Jamie asked again.

“Always, ‘Are you my mummy?’. Like he doesn’t know,” Rose stated.

 _“_ _Mummy?”_ Jamie repeated.

“Why doesn’t he know?” Rose asked.

“She never told him,” Aries said quietly as she placed the drawing down.

 _“Are you there, Mummy?_ _Mummy?”_ Jamie asked, _“_ _Mummy? Please, mummy? Mummy?”_

“Doctor?” Rose questioned, looking to the Doctor as he started to pace around the room.

The Doctor looked at the humans, his eyes more on Aries. “Can you sense it?” he asked, causing Aries to look at him in surprise, confirming his suspicions that she could feel what he was feeling. How she could was still a mystery to the Time Lord, though he couldn’t help but think it had something to do with her abilities, whatever they were.

“Sense what?” Jack asked, looking between the Doctor and Aries. He hadn’t missed how the Doctor had been watching the red head and wondered if there was something between the pair. He had noted that the Doctor hadn’t been surprised by Aries’ outburst earlier, more curious if anything.

“Coming out of the walls,” the Doctor explained, seeing Aries swallow as she looked back down at the teddy she was holding, “Can you feel it?”

Aries closed her eyes, knowing what the Doctor was talking about. She was surprised to know that he could feel it too, but it was true. The oppressing feeling she was getting was almost overwhelming, causing her to have to occluded heavily to stop it from effecting her. The power she was feeling was almost swamping her own emotions. The anger, sadness and fear she was getting in the room was so thick that she had to fight down the urge to leave.

 _“_ _Mummy?”_ Jamie’s voice cut through the silence.

The Doctor shook his head at Rose and Jack, “Funny little human brains,” he commented, “How do you get around those things?”

Rose rolled her eyes, looking to Jack, “When he’s stressed, he likes to insult species,” she told the man.

“Rose, I’m thinking,” the Doctor told her.

Rose continued on, ignoring him, “He cuts himself shaving, he does half an hour on life forms he’s cleverer than.”

Aries shot Rose a questionable look before looking to the Doctor. Hearing that he wasn’t human didn’t surprise her as much as she thought it should. She had grown up in a world were magic and magical creatures were the norm. Aliens didn’t surprise her after what she had experienced. It also helped explain he's age, though nine hundred years was still something she was trying to process.

The red head found it rather odd that it baffled her that someone could live to be over nine hundred years when she hadn’t seemed to age a day in the last forty, but even though a witch or wizard had a longer lifespan than muggles, they still only reached old age by the middle of their second century.

“There are these children living it rough round the bomb sites,” the Doctor continued thinking out loud and drawing Aries from her thoughts as she refocused on what was happening, “They come out during air-raids looking for food."

 _“_ _Mummy, please?”_ Jamie said.

“Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed?” the Doctor pondered.

“It was a medi-ship,” Jack exclaimed, still trying to get them to see that he had no part in what was happening, “It was harmless.”

“Yes, you keep saying harmless,” the Doctor said, looking at the man, “Suppose one of them was affected, altered?” he questioned.

“Altered how?” Rose asked.

Aries stiffened when she heard the tape run out, but still heard the voice of Jamie, “I’m here!”

The Doctor also seemed to realise the same thing, “It’s afraid,” he told them, “Terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn’t know it yet, but it will do. It’s got the power of a god, and I just sent it to its room.”

“Doctor,” Rose said.

“I’m here,” Jamie said, “Can’t you see me?”

“What’s that noise?” Rose asked, hearing the sound of the tape recorder clicking over.

“End of the tape,” Aries said, not moving an inch, “It ran out thirty seconds ago,” she informed them.

“I’m here, now. Can’t you see me?” Jamie asked again.

“I sent it to its room,” the Doctor breathed, “This is its room,” he said before turning to the tape recorder, seeing Jamie standing beside it.

“Are you my mummy?” Jamie asked, looking at Aries who had turned towards him, “Mummy?”

“Oh, Jamie,” Aries breathed, the teddy falling from hand.

“Doctor?” Rose asked, hoping he knew how to get her out of this.

Jack stepped in front of Rose and the Doctor, glancing at Aries as he did so, “Okay, on my signal make for the door,” he told them.

“Mummy?” Jamie asked Aries again, causing the woman to look at Jamie sadly.

Her attention, however, was drawn to Jack when he proceeded to draw what he thought was his blaster, “Now!” he shouts, only to notice he was holding a banana.

“Mummy?”

The Doctor smirked as he pulled out Jack’s blaster from his belt and aimed it at a wall, making a nice square hole in it. “Go, now!” he urged the others as they dashed towards the wall, “Don’t drop the banana!”

“Why not?!” Jack shouts as he stepped through the hole.

“Good source of potassium,” the Doctor explained as if it was the most reasonable excuse to not drop a banana while they were trying to escape.


	6. A Witch, Two Travellers, And A Cupboard

Once they were on the other side of the hole, Jack turned to the Doctor and snatched the blaster from his hand. “Give me that!” he snapped before he fiddled with the gun.

“Mummy. I want my mummy!” Jamie called on the other side of the hole, causing Aries to glance back through, just as Jack used the blaster to repair the hole in the wall.

“Digital rewind,” the man said before throwing the banana back to the Doctor, “Nice switch.”

“It’s from the groves of Villengard,” the Doctor said with a shrug as he pocketed the banana, feeling a little calmer that the danger had passed for now, “I thought it was appropriate.”

“There’s really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard,” Jack said, sounding rather impressed, “And you did that?”

“Bananas are good,” the Doctor replied.

Aries, who was watching there conversation, a little baffled at how casually they were talking about a place that had been destroyed, suddenly let out a hiss as her scar flared and the wall started to crack as Jamie tried to force his way through. “Doctor!” she called, holding her hand as it started to burn more than before.

The red head didn’t know why she had called his name, but she didn’t really question it. Things were happening a little too quickly for her to process efficiently and Aries was starting to grow scared with everything that was happening. There was only so much one could deal with, and aliens, time travel, and a boy no older than five that seemed to be able to do anything was getting a little much for the witch.

The Doctor looked to Aries, hearing her tone and his eyes grew wide at the sight of her staring at her hand, knowing that it was effecting her again. “Come on!” he shouted, needing to get Aries away, but the red head didn’t move.

“Go!” she told him when he paused, swallowing hard as she rested her hands against the wall Jamie was pounding against. She didn’t know how long she could hold the boy back, but she would give them the time they needed.

“Aries,” the Doctor said, moving back to her. There was no way he was going to leave her behind. He didn’t with the Dalek and there was no way he was going to do that now.

“Go!” Aries repeated as she pushed against the wall, feeling her magic start to reinforce it. Her eyes met the Doctor’s, “I’ll hold him off.”

Rose grabbed the Doctor’s arm, trying to pull the Time Lord along with her, but he shook her hold off. The wall Aries was pushing against started to show a red hue as Aries’ magic supported it, just as the Doctor was dragged away by Jack.

They didn’t manage to get very far however, when they noticed the patients were heading towards them from the other direction.

“Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?” the patients repeated as they got closer to the group, causing them to turn back and towards where Aries was.

“It’s keeping us here ‘til it can get at us,” the Doctor told them as he looked worriedly at Aries.

She was still standing before the wall with her hands against it, but he could see the pain etched in her features as her jaw clenched as she pushed more magic into reinforcing the wall. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she continued to hold Jamie back, but the red head knew she was tiring.

“It’s controlling them?” Jack asked, not believing the Doctor.

“It is them,” the Doctor explained, looking away from Aries and to the patients, “It’s every living thing in this hospital.” _But for some reason, not Aries,_ he added mentally in relief before shaking his head, knowing he could work out why she was being affected differently once they got out of this mess.

“Okay,” Jack said, looking at his blaster, “This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and as a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter,” Aries managed to glance at Jack with a raised eyebrow at just what his gun could do, before refocusing on the wall when a crack started to appear. “Doc, what you got?” he asked the Doctor who was now standing behind him, facing the other direction.

“I’ve got a sonic, er,” the Doctor looked at his screwdriver. He wouldn’t say he was embarrassed by his screwdriver, but it didn’t seem like the best tool to have right now. “Oh, never mind.”

“What?” Jack questioned, glancing over his shoulder to the Time Lord before facing the patients again as they advanced.

“It’s sonic, okay? Leave it at that,” the Doctor stated as he aimed his screwdriver at the patients, not really sure what he could do with it. It wasn’t a weapon, not that he actually wanted to harm the patients, but there was only so much a sonic could do in a situation like this, and none of the settings had a way of stopping the patient’s advance.

Aries rolled her eyes through her pain and concentration as the pair continued to argue. The pain in her hand grew every time that Jamie tried to force his way through the wall and the witch wasn’t too sure as to how much longer she could hold him back.

“Disrupter? Canon? What?” Jack huffed, wondering why the Doctor just wouldn’t tell him what he had and Aries had to fight the urge to silence the man as she tried to think of a way to get them to safety.

Jack’s manipulator could work, although Aries wasn’t too certain how to use it and there wasn’t really time to pull out a book to find out. Apparation would get her out, but if she wanted to save the others, there was the risk of passing the virus onto them, which was something the red head didn’t want to happen. Killing the patients was out of the question, which really just left her with trying to figure out a way to get the three time travellers away from the patients.

“It’s sonic! Totally sonic!” the Doctor exclaimed as he pointed his screwdriver at the approaching patients, “I am sonicked up!”

“A sonic what?!” Jack shouted as he turned to the Doctor.

“Screwdriver!” the Doctor shouted back as he also turned to Jack, holding his sonic screwdriver to show him.

Aries let out a hiss as her spell fell and Jamie broke through the wall, forcing her to take a step back as she clutched her scarred hand to her chest. 

Rose grabbed Jack’s blaster and pointed it at the floor, “Going down!” she said as she fired the blaster, barely giving Aries enough time as the red head disappeared with a crack.

\----

Jack quickly stood up, aiming his blaster at the roof where they had fallen through as he changed the settings and repaired the hole in the ceiling.

“Doctor, are you okay?” Rose asked as she got up, finding it hard to see as the lights were out.

“Could’ve used some warning,” the Time Lord grumbled as he stood up. He looked around for Aries as he brushed himself down, sighing with relief when he spotted her leaning against a wall not far from them, her head turned upwards as she looked to the ceiling.

“Oh, the gratitude,” Rose huffed, rolling her eyes before searching for a light-switch.

“Who has a sonic screwdriver?” Jack suddenly questioned, turning in the direction he had heard the Doctor’s voice.

“I do,” the Doctor stated defensively as he pocketed his sonic and moved closer to Aries, wanting to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

“Lights,” Rose muttered as she felt around for a light switch, not really wanting to hear the two men argue over their choice in sonic devices.

Aries turned her head away from the ceiling when she noticed the Doctor approaching from the corner of her eye. Her hand was no longer burning, and it gave her the idea that it only did so when Jamie knew where she was. The red head knew she had to try and help Jamie, she just had to find out how. There had to be a way to help him.

“Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, ooo, this could be a little more sonic?” Jack questioned the empty space in front of him sarcastically, not realising the Doctor had moved.

Aries watched the Doctor turn back to Jack, rather surprised at how easily the Time Lord could see in the dark as the man responded, “What, you’ve never been bored?” She couldn’t help but think that the ease he seemed to show in the dark was a part of the Doctor being an alien. Aries had always been able to see in the dark, though it wasn’t until her first animagus shift that she realised why. An owl was built to see and hunt in the nocturnal hours.

“There’s gotta be a light switch,” Rose continued to ignore the two males in her search for a switch, trying to forget completely that Aries was even there.

“Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?” the Doctor continued to defend his screwdriver, which only caused Aries to shake her head.

Rose made a sound of triumph as she flicked on a light switch, causing Aries to blink a few times as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change in lighting.

As soon as her eyes had adjusted though, Aries let out a hiss of pain as the patients in the room they found themselves in all sat up in their beds. “Mummy? Mummy” they repeated, their voices childlike.

“Door,” Jack exclaimed when he noticed a door, and the small group rushed over to it. Jack tried to use his blaster on the lock, but it didn’t work. “Damn it!” he huffed.

The Doctor pushed his way to the door and used his sonic on it, rolling his eyes as he passed Jack.

“Mummy?” the patients repeated as they got off their beds.

“It’s the special features. They really drain the battery,” Jack explained, looking at his blaster with a frown, wondering why of all times did it decide now to fail him.

“The battery?” Rose asked, sounding rather unimpressed as the Doctor got the door open and they rushed inside, “That’s so lame!”

Aries made her way to the corner of the room away from the others and took of her glove and inspected her scar. It wasn’t burning as much as it was before, but there was a slight throbbing pain in her hand. It was also pulsing with the red energy again.

“I was going to send for another one, but somebody’s got to blow up the factory,” Jack complained, glaring at the Doctor as he continued to use the sonic on the door to lock it behind them.

“Oh, I know,” Rose agreed, “First day I met him, he blew up my job. That’s practically how he communicates.”

Aries looked up from her hand, frowning as she looked to the Doctor. Her eyebrow raised questionably as he turned away from the door and noticed her looking at him. He offered her a sheepish grin as he tugged on his ear, unsure what to say. He turned to the others, hoping that Aries didn’t think that was all he did, but he only winced when he remembered Downing Street, as well as his earlier bragging about having destroyed the weapons factory.

“Okay, that door should hold it for a bit,” the Doctor said as he cleared his throat, shaking his head from where his thoughts were going. The Time Lord really couldn’t help but realise that anytime he had run into Aries, it always ended up with them in trouble one way or another.

“The door?” Jack asked incredulously, “The wall didn’t stop it!”

“Well,” Aries spoke up, gaining their attention, “He’s got to find us first.” She knew it was a stretch, and without further investigation to figure out what she had thought was true, Aries was rather hopeful that since her hand wasn’t burning as much as it was before, it meant that Jamie didn’t exactly know where she was.

The Doctor grinned at her, “Aries’ is right,” he agreed, not missing the surprise that passed over his Nesdra’s face before it was gone, only to be replaced with a confused but curious expression. He looked back to Jack and Rose, noticing the former waiting to say something else while the latter was glaring at Aries. “Come on,” he snapped, not liking the way Rose was looking at Aries, nor the grin the American was giving him, “We’re not done yet! Assets, assets!”

“Well, I’ve got a banana, and in a pinch, you could put up some shelves,” Jack replied, his voice dripping in sarcasm. He turned to Aries with a grin, “And Rie here can always just wipe them out,” he added, only to pause when he noticed Aries expression and having realised what words had left his mouth.

“What?” Aries asked the American, her heart beating faster in her chest at the name Jack had used, knowing that she _never_ used that nickname. Not since her father had died.

Jack frowned, rather confused himself before he scowled, looking away from Aries and the others as he sat down on a seat and started to fiddle with his tricorder. Whoever Aries was to him, he couldn’t remember and Jack wanted to know why. What had he done that had the Time Agency make him forget?

“Window,” the Doctor said as he rushed over to it, not having heard what Jack had said as his concern and need to get Aries to safety pushed him to finding a way out.

“Barred. Sheer drop outside,” Aries said, almost absentmindedly as she eyed Jack, “Seven stories.” The American seemed just as confused as she was about the name he had used, and as he continued to fiddle with his manipulator, Aries couldn’t help but wonder where Jack had heard that name or if it had just been an accidental guess.

“And no other exits,” Rose stated with a frown as she turned away from Aries and Jack to watch the Doctor.

“Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn’t it?” Jack complained as he glanced up from his device, only to frown when he noticed Aries watching him.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, glancing at Rose. “So, where’d you pick this one up, then?” he asked his companion, wondering what trouble she had gotten into to have run into Jack. The Time Lord really had begun to question why he still took Rose along, not having liked how she treated Aries, or the way she always seemed to drag him into trouble. If he hadn’t known where Aries had gone after the whole incident with her father, the Doctor might have already dropped her off at home.

“Doctor,” Rose warned, not wanting the Time Lord to start again.

Jack looked to the Doctor with a smirk. “She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance,” he told the Time Lord.

The Doctor turned away from Rose, looking to Aries. At least he knew she would be helpful. “Okay,” he began, drawing Aries attention, “One, we’ve got to get out of here. Two, we can’t get out of here. Have I missed anything?”

Aries, who had been listening to the Doctor, frowned when she felt a shift in the air and looked to where Jack had been. Her eyebrows raised when she noticed the man wasn’t there anymore.

“Yeah,” Rose said, noticing the same thing Aries had and gained the Doctor’s attention, “Jack just disappeared.”

The Time Lord tuned to where Jack had been, rolling his eyes when he noticed the man wasn’t there. He moved back to the window as he continued to try and find a way out, as well as trying to figure out a way to save Aries. The Time Lord didn’t know what he would do if he lost her now and he was not going to leave _her_ fate in a conman’s hands.

“Okay, so he’s vanished into thin air,” Rose pouted as she looked to where Jack had been, “Why is it always the great looking ones who do that?” she moaned.

The Doctor paused as he glanced back at Rose, his eyebrows creasing slightly. “I’m making an effort not to be insulted,” he commented, casting a glance to Aries who was watching them both. He didn’t really care what Rose thought about him, but he couldn’t ignore the jealousy he had felt when he had noticed Aries watching Jack earlier and felt his hearts skip a beat at the prospect that Jack may have caught Aries’ eye.

Rose rolled her eyes, “I mean, men,” she corrected, although she was now smiling.

Feeling rather uncomfortable with where the conversation was going, Aries looked between the pair. If she was honest, the red head preferred the Doctor over Jack. It wasn’t just the fact that the Doctor hadn’t placed a fifty-first century ship in the middle of London, 1941 and caused a virus outbreak that killed and altered anyone it came into contact with, a virus that was trying to kill her. But there was also something about the Doctor, something she just couldn’t figure out.

“Okay, thanks,” the Doctor replied with an eye roll, “That really helped.” He turned away from Rose and back to the window, only for the radio to gain his attention as it crackled to life. It also caused Aries and Rose to look at it as well.

 _“Rose? Doctor? Uh, Red?”_ Jack’s voice came through the device, though he sounded a little hesitant about what to call Aries. The red head couldn’t help but frown as she took a step to the radio. _”Can you hear me? I’m back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn’t take you.”_

“Red?” Aries muttered, her frown deepening as she remembered the name Jack had called her earlier. It could have been a guess, but his expression, the way he had called her Rie sounded too familiar, too....close. There was only one person who she was okay with calling her Rie, and he had died over forty years ago and the thought of someone she didn’t even know using that name caused her nose to wrinkle in distaste.

 _“It’s security-keyed into my molecular structure,”_ Jack continued, either not having heard Aries, or was just ignoring her, _“I’m working on it. Hang in there.”_

The Doctor frowned as Jack spoke, approaching the radio before grabbing something and showing it to Rose and Aries, both women giving him a different expression at the broken wires in his hand. Rose was confused, though the Doctor hadn’t really expected the blonde to actually know what he was showing her, while Aries’ expression was more....calculating. “How are you speaking to us?” the Time Lord questioned.

“Om-com,” Aries spoke up at the same time as Jack.

 _“I can call anything with a speaker grill,”_ the American added.

“Now there’s a coincidence,” the Doctor commented as his eyebrows creased.

 _“What is?”_ Jack asked.

The Doctor looked to Rose and Aries. “The child-“ he begun, only to be cut off by Aries.

“Jamie,” the red head corrected with a frown.

“Yes, sorry,” the Doctor amended before he continued, “Jamie, he can Om-Com too.”

“He can?” Aries asked, rather surprised to hear that. _Though,_ she mused, her eyebrows furrowing slightly as she thought it over, _If the ship was from the fifty-first century, I guess it could be possible that whatever had changed Jamie had also given him a few extra abilities._ Aries eyebrows only creased further as she realised that there wasn’t any virus that she knew of, both past and future, that could do something like that. The only thing she could think of was some advance types of technology, but it didn’t explain how it was spread by touch.

“Anything with a speaker grill. Even the TARDIS phone” the Doctor confirmed, surprised to know that Aries didn’t know that titbit of information. He could already see her working through the new information, though her expression was telling him that she didn’t like what her mind had come up with in regards to learning that.

“What,” Rose breathed, her eyes wide, “You mean the child-“

“Jamie,” Aries cut in again as she shook her head, clearing it. Whatever was affecting Jamie, affecting herself, Aries knew she would find a way to fix it. She had to.

Rose rolled her eyes, stopping when she noticed the Doctor frowning at her. “Jamie, then,” she begrudgingly said with a sigh before she continued on what she was saying, “You mean he can phone us?”

 _Isn’t that what he just said?_ Aries thought as she rolled her own eyes at the blonde. She was about to turn away from the pair, as well as the radio, when Jamie’s voice cut through the static and her hand flared in pain.

 _“And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to find you,”_ Jamie taunted.

 _“Doctor, can you hear that?”_ Jack asked, having heard the child’s voice as well.

“Loud and clear,” the Time Lord confirmed, glancing at Aries in concern as she hissed in pain, clutching her now glove-free, scarred hand against her chest.

 _“I’ll try and block out the signal,”_ Jack informed them, _“Least I can do.”_

 _“Coming to find you, mummy,”_ Jamie’s voice continued to taunt as Aries moved back to the corner she had been standing in, looking to her hand as the pain faded slightly.

 _“Remember this one, Rose?”_ Jack asked before ‘Moonlight Serenade’ started playing through the radio.

Both the Doctor and Aries looked to Rose with similar expressions, causing the blonde to shift uncomfortably. “Our song,” she explained, feeling rather embarrassed.

Aries raised and eyebrow, glancing to the Doctor who just shrugged in response, a little unsure himself. Before she looked back to Rose, her mouth open to say something, Aries’ suddenly fell to her knees, crying out as the pain in her hand intensified. Aries didn’t even notice that the Doctor had moved until he appeared, kneeling in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” the Time Lord questioned, wanting to reach for Aries hand, but also not wanting to touch her. The dual needs were clashing inside him and as much as the Doctor worried for his own safety, Aries’ safety would always be more important, and seeing her like this once again was not something the Time Lord enjoyed witnessing.

“It’s fine,” Aries ground out, instinctively holding her injured hand closer to her chest. She may understand that the Doctor was an alien from the future, but she didn’t want him to see her hand. It was still pulsing with energy, and she was honestly scared. Aries didn’t know what was happening to her anymore and she was starting to worry.

As the Doctor looked into Aries’ silver-grey eyes, he could see the pain in them, but also her fear and it made his hearts clench at the sight of it. Whatever was happening to Aries, she was terrified about it. He looked to her hands and swallowed, having come to a decision.

Aries’ eyes widened when the Doctor suddenly grabbed her wrist in a surprisingly gentle, but firm grip, using her jacket sleeve as a barrier against touching her skin. “No!” she hissed, trying to pull her hands away, but wasn’t able to break free from his grip.

Rose watched on with a scowl as once again, the Doctor was focused fully on Aries and not her. She didn’t know why the red head seemed to be important to the Doctor. She didn’t even know how Aries just continued to show up wherever they were, but the look that overcame the Doctor’s face whenever the Time Lord’s eyes landed on Aries....Rose couldn’t help but feel that he should be looking at her like that. Like _she_ was the most important person in the universe, not Aries.

“I can’t tell what’s happening if I can’t see it,” the Doctor murmured softly to Aries, trying to get her to show him her hand. He knew how defensive she got when it came to anything to with herself, having tried in the past to get her to open up, but her answers were either really short, or left him with more questions than answers. “I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong,” he added, trying to get his Nesdra to relax.

Swallowing heavily, Aries hesitantly met the Doctor's gaze, a little confused about the level of concern she could see in his blue eyes, as well as the way he was almost pleading with her to allow him to help. It caused a new sensation to flare to life in Aries' gut as a warmth filled her, but that only caused the red head to grow even more confused as she looked away from the patiently waiting Time Lord.

Aries bit her lip as the pain intensified, her eyes watering as her gaze fell onto her hands. She really didn’t know what was wrong with her anymore, and pushing her feelings aside, Aries knew that there was a chance that the Time Lord might know what was happening to her. _It couldn’t hurt to try,_ the red head thought, her eyes flickering back to the Doctor.

The Doctor almost sighed in relief when Aries gave him a hesitant nod before removing her hand that was covering the scarred one. He caught her eye before moving his hold from her other wrist and grabbed the wrist of her scarred hand carefully, making sure once again that he wasn’t touching her skin.

“I’m just going to scan it now,” the Doctor said softly, having noticed that Aries had not moved an inch since he had grabbed her wrist. He held his screwdriver over the scar on the back of Aries’ hand, his eyebrows creasing slightly when he noticed that there didn’t seem to be anything physically different between her scar and the other patients, but it was pulsing with a red glow.

It was only when Aries slowly nodded her head did the Doctor begin scanning. The sonic whirled as he scanned the scar, taking the opportunity to also do a DNA scan at the same time, and although the Doctor did feel bad about not asking Aries or telling her he was doing the secondary scan, the Time Lord also knew that it was probably going to be one of the only chances he got.

Aries suddenly let out a hiss of pain and the Doctor was quick to stop what he was doing and let Aries’ hand go as the red glow brightened before disappearing.

“What did you do?” Aries asked, looking up to the Doctor in confusion, though he was just as confused as her.

“I don’t think that was me,” the Doctor muttered, knowing that he had only scanned her hand to help figure out what was affecting her, as well as the secondary DNA scan. Whatever had happened to stop the glow, the Time Lord knew that his sonic had nothing to do with it. “What is it?” the Doctor questioned when he noticed Aries frowning as she looked at her hand.

“Jamie,” Aries said, looking back to the Time Lord, though she continued when he just raised an eyebrow, “I’m not certain,” her eyebrows creased, “But, I don’t think he knows where I am.”

The Doctor nodded, accepting her reasoning. “It gives us some more time to try and get out of here, then,” he said as he stood up, glancing at his sonic as he did so. He tried to get a read of what was happening to his Nesdra, but the results seemed to be fluctuating, unable to tell him what was wrong. He could read the high energy readings that Jack had gotten with his tricorder, but his sonic was having trouble figuring out why Aries wasn’t affected like the others who had been infected.

Aries quickly reapplied the glove onto her hand as she also stood up, noticing the Doctor frowning at his sonic. “What’s wrong?” she questioned.

“Just takes a bit to finish with the scan,” the Doctor lied with a smile, trying not to show how frustrated he was growing with his sonic, “Should be finished in about....fifteen minutes,” he added, glancing at his sonic as he moved back towards the window. The Time Lord couldn’t help but feel annoyed that his sonic still couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Aries, nor tell him what she was.

Aries nodded slowly, not quite believing the Doctor, but let it go. It was quite possible that he was telling her the truth, but there was also a part of Aries that knew that it could be her own magic as well as the simple fact that she wasn’t from this universe that could be why the Doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.

Sighing, Aries sat down on a crate as she watched the Doctor continue to sonic the window. He paused every so often to glance at his sonic, only to return to scanning the window with a frown and Aries couldn’t help but think that he was just as unsure as to what was happening to her as she was.


	7. Nano-what?

Rose shifted in the wheelchair she was sitting in, rolling it backwards and forwards on the spot, She was growing rather bored and she was still miffed about Aries showing up.... _again_. She glanced at the Doctor, finding him frowning as he paused in whatever he was doing to the window to look to his sonic.

“What are you doing?” she asked the Time Lord, and he looked away from his sonic and back to the window rather quickly, almost like he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing.

“Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars,” the Time Lord replied as he continued to do just that, as well as trying to understand why is sonic was now refusing to show him the results of the scan he had done on Aries.

“But that still leaves a seven story drop,” Aries remarked with a frown, to which Rose only rolled her eyes at the red head.

“I know,” the Doctor replied rather tersely, his hand tightening around his sonic. He couldn’t help but feel a little stressed about the situation they were in. Not only was his companion in danger, but Aries was as well and the Time Lord knew that he would do anything to keep _her_ safe.

Aries raised an eyebrow at the Doctor’s tone, but otherwise didn’t comment.

“Why don’t you just do what you did back at Satellite Five?” Rose asked the red head, causing the Doctor to spin on the spot.

“Satellite Five?” Aries repeated, unsure what Rose was talking about.

“Rose,” the Time Lord warned, shooting his companion a disapproving look.

“What?” Rose asked, looking to the Doctor, “You’re just going to accept that she showed up, _yet again_ , and not even question how?” Before the Doctor could say anything, Rose turned to an intrigued but confused Aries, “How did you do that anyway?” she asked the red head.

“Do....what, exactly?” Aries questioned slowly, glancing to the Doctor. She was getting the feeling that this hadn’t been the first time the two time traveller’s had met her, and it made her understand the Doctor’s expression when she had met him earlier. _But, why was he shocked?_ she asked herself, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked back to the blonde.

“Nothing,” the Doctor quickly cut in, glaring at Rose when she went to say something else.

The blonde closed her mouth, huffing as she looked away from the Doctor and Aries. She couldn’t understand why the Doctor always seemed to be on Aries side.

Aries raised an eyebrow as the Doctor turned back to the window, but said nothing. If they had met her before, she could understand the Doctor’s reluctance to speak of it. Especially if they were from her future. Time travel was tricky and dangerous and as a manipulative old bastard had once said, ‘Bad things happen to those who meddle with time.’

She could remember the warning she had gotten from both Dumbledore and her father before she had been granted her Time Turner, and although she never did abuse it, she could see how some people would be tempted with the power of time travel.

“You don’t think he’s coming back, do you?” Rose questioned the Doctor and breaking Aries from her thoughts.

“Who?” the Doctor asked as he paused in his work to glance at his companion.

Rose frowned. “Jack,” she reminded him.

The Doctor paused. He had actually forgotten about the man, his mind focused on getting Aries out and why his sonic wasn’t co-operating with him. He frowned as he continued to sonic the bars as he answered, “Wouldn’t bet my life.”

“Why don’t you trust him?” Rose asked curiously, only to glare at Aries when she snorted.

The red head just shook her head. “I could think of many reasons why I don’t trust him,” she stated, though her response had the Doctor stopping in his sonicking as he looked to her.

“Why don’t you?” he asked, curious as to why she didn’t trust Jack. He had been worried earlier with the way she had been watching Jack, and the way the conman had been watching her. So he was relieved to know she hadn’t fallen for the man’s charms....unlike his companion, whom he noticed was glaring at Aries. But he could also see that Aries had already connected what was happening here with what Jack had done.

Aries eyebrows furrowed as she replied, a small frown on her face. “He dropped a fifty-first century ship in the middle of London, using one of the worst wars I’ve ever witnessed as a way to make a profit. And in doing just that, inadvertently started the spread of a virus that not only affected a child, but the whole hospital where I work. Then, if he wasn’t finished being a dunderhead, he tried to convince us that it wasn’t his fault.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, once again impressed at how Aries thought things through. Her answer was logical, not swayed by emotion, separating facts from feelings.

“And now he’s vanished and we have no way of knowing if he will come back, or just leave us behind now that he’s been found out,” the red head finished.

Rose looked between the two, not liking the look that appeared in the Doctor’s face as he turned back to the window and frowned. “Well, I trust him because he saved my life,” she said, gaining the other’s attention as she continued, “Bloke-wise, that’s up there with flossing.” She ignored Aries when the red head snorted, looking to the Doctor as an idea came to her.

“I trust him because he’s like you,” she told the Time Lord with a smile, “Except with dating and dancing.”

The Doctor stopped sonicking once again and looked to Rose in confusion.

“What?” the blonde asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Doctor fidgeted a little, glancing at Aries who was watching them, rather lost where the conversation was going. He looked back to Rose. “You just assume I’m....” he trailed off, glancing once again at his Nesdra.

“What,” Rose repeated, her smile growing.

The Doctor swallowed heavily, “You just assume I don’t _dance_ ,” he replied, feeling rather uncomfortable with the conversation topic. He knew that Aries had no idea who he was, or even who _she_ was to him and he was feeling a little out of his depth.

Rose’s smile turned into a smirk at how uncomfortable the Time Lord was looking. “What. Are you telling me you do _dance_?” she questioned.

“Nine hundred years old, me,” the Doctor said, “I’ve been around a bit. I think you can assume at some point I’ve _danced_.”

“You?” Rose continued her questioning, her head tilted to the side.

“Problem?” the Time Lord shot back as he turned back to the window. He was feeling completely uncomfortable with Rose’s questions, even more so with his Nesdra in the room.

“Doesn’t the universe implode or something if you.... _dance_?” Rose asked suggestively.

“Why would the universe implode?” Aries asked with a frown, though the other’s didn’t seem to hear her.

“I’ve got moves,” the Doctor huffed, rolling his eyes at his companion before turning his gaze to Aries. “But I wouldn’t want to boast,” he finished, before he paused, noticing her expression.

Aries frown deepened as she looked between the pair. She wasn’t too sure why the Doctor seemed to become uncomfortable about dancing and felt as though she had missed something. Something she hadn’t figured out yet.

The smile had disappeared on Rose’s face and she stood up and moved over to the radio. “You’ve got the moves,” she turned the volume up on the radio before turning to the Doctor, “Show me your moves.”

The Doctor’s hand around his sonic tightened as he tried to focus on the bars in front of him and not his companion, who he couldn’t believe was trying to hit on him as if Aries wasn’t even in the room. “Rose, I’m trying to resonate concrete,” he told her through gritted teeth, now feeling way passed uncomfortable. He was rather disturbed by the blondes actions, and it didn’t help that his Nesdra was sitting there, watching. Although, if her expression was anything to go by, he was rather glad she didn’t know that they hadn’t been talking about dancing.

“Jack will be back. He’ll get us out,” Rose continued as she took a few steps towards the Doctor, ignoring Aries’ scoff at her words, “So, come on. The world doesn’t end because the Doctor dances.”

Aries’ eyebrows furrowed when Rose held out her hands towards the Doctor as an unfamiliar feeling settled in her gut. Though she was quick to push the feeling away when she noticed Rose’s hands and stood up. The blonde had mentioned having hung from a barrage balloon earlier, but there wasn’t a mark on her.

“Barrage balloon?” she questioned, looking away from the blonde hands, only to find Rose glaring at her. She shook her head, ignoring the glare, “You said you were hanging from a barrage balloon.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Rose asked, rather annoyed that Aries was interrupting her flirting with the Doctor. It seemed, to Rose at least, that the red head always seemed to be showing up when she wasn’t welcome.

Aries’ question caused the Doctor to turn to them in confusion, wondering what she was talking about. He let out a relieved breath when he noticed Rose was no longer looking at him, but frowned at the glare she was shooting Aries. Noticing Aries was looking to Rose’s hands, the Doctor followed her gaze, his eyebrows furrowing when he realised what had caught his Nesdra’s attention.

“Aries’ is right,” the Time Lord said, frowning at Rose when she rolled her eyes, “You said you were hanging from a barrage balloon.”

“Oh, yeah,” Rose said as she looked to the Doctor, deciding not to comment on the fact that Aries always seemed to be right in the Doctor’s eyes. “About two minutes after you left me. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air-raid, Union Jack all over my chest,” she continued, favouring to just ignore the red head.

 _And my father thought Potter an his friends were trouble magnets,_ Aries mused with a raised eyebrow. She didn’t know how the blonde could be so okay about being in such a dangerous situation, having found she quite enjoyed how peaceful her life had become since arriving here.

Aries no longer found herself looking over her shoulder, afraid that her secrets had been found out and someone had come after her to get at her father. She no longer found herself sneaking around as much as she use to, and as much as she missed her father, Aries actually had come to enjoy the life she had built for herself.

“I’ve travelled with a lot of people,” the Doctor’s voice broke through Aries’ thoughts as he looked closer at Rose’s hands and she dropped her hand from the pendant around her neck as she focused back on the conversation. “But you’re setting a new records for ‘jeopardy friendly’,” the Doctor finished.

Rose rolled her eyes before she smiled as she grabbed the Doctor’s hands. “Is this you dancing?” she questioned flirtatiously, causing both the Doctor and Aries to frown, “Because I’ve got notes.”

The Doctor chose to ignore her flirting as he flipped her hands over and studied them, seeing exactly what Aries had. “Hanging from a rope thousands of feet above London,” he glanced to Aries as the pieces started to fall into place, “Not a cut, not a bruise.”

“Yeah, I know,” Rose nodded, “Captain Jack fixed me up.”

Aries was ignoring their conversation in favour of looking to Rose’s hands. It should be impossible for there to be nothing wrong with the blondes hands, but they were completely mark free. She tilted her head to the side as she tried to work out what could have fixed Rose’s hands so quickly, but other than magic, she was coming up blank.

"Oh, we're calling him Captain Jack now, are we?" the Doctor questioned as a small feeling of hope ignited in his chest that, just maybe, his companion would focus her attention away from him. And the Doctor could admit, even if he didn't like the American, Jack was a much better candidate than Adam had been. The Time Lord knew that if Rose continued to flirt with him, especially when Aries was around, he wouldn't hesitate to drop her back off at home.

“Well, his name is Jack and he is a Captain,” Rose stated.

Aries made a noise in the back of her throat as she tried to hold back a snort, shaking her head as Rose glared at her. “He’s not a Captain,” she said, looking to Rose and rolled her eyes at the blondes glare. She’d faced a lot worse things in her life then some angry teenager, although she didn’t know why the blonde seemed so hostile towards her.

Rose rolled her eyes as she turned her attention back to the Doctor. “Do you know what I think?” she asked the Time Lord as she turned her hands back over and held the Doctor’s, starting to sway on the spot as she tried to get him to dance with her. “I think you’re experiencing Captain envy. You’ll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them.”

The Doctor frowned again as he ripped his hands from Rose’s as if he had been burned, having quite enough of her flirting. He took a step back from the blonde as he spoke, not even caring for the disbelief and confusion that passed over his companions face. “If he ever was a Captain, he’s been defrocked,” he stated.

Aries missed the last part of their conversation as she felt the air shift around her. Her stance went rigid and her eyes narrowed as she looked around the storage cupboard, only to find herself in some sort of ship a moment later.

She spun on her heel, only to see Jack sitting in a chair and Aries was quick to realise she, along with the Doctor and Rose, had been teleported to his ship.

\----

Jack raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him.

Aries looked surprised, but not alarmed at being teleported and it vivified his interest in her once again. He would have thought since she was from the twentieth century, the red head would have been a bit more startled after finding herself teleported into a fifty-first century ship. But then again, he wasn’t too sure what to make of Aries. Her energy readings had been off the charts and nothing like Jack believed he had ever seen before....though there was still the niggling feeling of familiarity to what he had witnessed earlier, and her knowledge on what should be advanced technology for her was something else that intrigued him.

The Doctor and Rose, however. They were standing a few feet apart from each other, the Doctor looking....was that anger and disgust the American could see? All the while, Rose was looking like someone had stolen her favourite toy _and_ kicked her puppy.

“Actually, I quit,” he spoke up with a grin, startling the pair, “Nobody takes my frock,” he raised an eyebrow at Rose when the Doctor started to move around his ship. “Most people notice when they’ve been teleported,” he continued, eyeing Aries a little curiously, although she ignored him as she also looked around his ship, “Sorry about the delay. I had to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security.”

The Doctor continued his inspection of the ship, noticing Aries doing the same thing and couldn’t help but smile, seeing the interest in her eyes as she examined the controls. He could remember the first time she had stepped inside his TARDIS. The look of awe that had been on her face as she took in just how big the inside was compared to the outside, though his smile fell when he remembered what had happened not moments after she had stepped inside.

Shaking his head and trying to move away from where his thoughts were going, the Time Lord looked to Jack. As much as he was relieved to be out of that cupboard, not knowing how much more of Rose’s flirting he could have handled, the Doctor couldn’t deny that he wasn’t comfortable with his Nesdra being around Jack.

The instincts he had around Aries after he had first met her weren’t as profound as he knew they usually were, though the Time Lord knew that it was because this was her past. The bond he shared with Aries was still there as he could feel it faintly in the back of his mind, but this wasn’t _his_ Aries. There was no bond between them at the moment, and it made the Doctor wonder when he would see the Aries that coincided with his timeline again.

“This isn’t your ship,” Aries’ voice broke the Doctor from his musings as she looked at a screen, reading what was on it and surprising the Doctor in the process as he knew that the writing on the screen wasn’t any language known on Earth during the Twentieth Century. It made him wonder exactly what books Aries had access to, remembering his Nesdra mentioning her library while they had been trapped in Downing Street.

“Though I can see why it took you so long to override the protocols,” Aries continued and Rose frowned as she glanced at the screen, unable to help herself, only to find that she couldn’t understand what was being displayed.

“Why can’t I understand it?” Rose asked, looking to the Doctor as she tried to hide the jealousy she was feeling towards the red head at the fact that Aries could understand what the screen was showing. “You told me that the TARDIS translates any language,” she continued when the Doctor just raised a questionable eyebrow.

The Doctor tried to hide his smile, turning away from the others as he failed. He couldn’t help but find it amusing however, knowing that his TARDIS was still annoyed with his companion after their last trip and it didn’t really surprise the Time Lord that the ship would do something that seemed so petty.

He had almost lost his ship, and Aries because of what Rose had done. _What we did,_ the Doctor corrected himself, his smile fading at the knowledge that he was just as much, if not more to blame for what had happened with Rose’s father.

Aries pressed a few buttons on the control panel, bringing something else up on the screen and her eyebrows furrowed. “Do you even remember who’s ship this was?” she questioned the American distractedly as she continued to search for anything that might lead to figuring out exactly what the man had done.

“Of course I do,” Jack replied with a frown, moving over to the controls and pressing a button which caused the screen to go blank. Aries glanced at him as she stepped away from the controls and Jack smirked. “She was gorgeous,” he told Aries who just raised an eyebrow, “And like I told her, be back in five minutes,” he added before disappearing under the control panel.

“This is a Chula ship,” the Doctor stated as he looked around, keeping a subtle eye on Aries as she made her way over to the bed on one side of the ship.

“Yeah,” Jack’s voice was muffled, “Just like the medical transporter. Only this one _is_ dangerous.”

Aries glanced at the Doctor and away from her hand when he snapped his fingers. Her eyes widened when his hand was enveloped in a glow and was on her feet in an instance, moving over to him as she kept her eyes locked on the little particles that surrounded his hand, her mind already trying to figure out what she was seeing.

The Doctor couldn’t help but smile as Aries approached him. He could see the wonder and curiosity in her eyes at the sight of the particles around his hand, as well as her mind trying to piece together what she was seeing.

“They’re what fixed my hands up,” Rose spoke up, causing the Doctor to startle as he realised how close she was to him. “Jack called them, er....” she trailed off as she tried to remember exactly what Jack had called them.

“Nanobots? Nanogenes?” the Doctor asked as he stepped away from the blonde, his eyes turning back to Aries as she reached out towards the nanogenes with her scarred, gloved hand.

“Nanogenes, yeah,” Rose agreed, though she couldn’t help but frown, feeling jealous at how the Doctor hadn’t even really glanced in her direction. _It’s always about Aries,_ she thought bitterly.

“Sub-atomic robots. There’s millions of them in here, see? Burnt my hand on the console when we landed,” the Doctor explained, “All better no....” he trailed off when he waved his hand, expecting the nanogenes to disperse, but they didn’t.

Instead, he, along with Aries watched on in awe as the nanogenes transferred from his hand to hers. Aries’ eyebrows furrowed as her hand started itching, almost becoming unbearable before it suddenly vanished. She shared a confused look with the Doctor before she slipped the glove off her hand, only for her eyes to widen when she realised the scar had gone.

“Oh, Salazar,” she breathed when it all fell into place and her eyes snapped to where Jack was still under the control panel.

“They activate when the bulkhead’s sealed,” the Doctor continued as he grabbed Aries’ hand to examine it, “Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws.” His own eyes widened minutely as he quickly came to the same conclusion that Aries had. His expression changed as he dropped her hand and turned to Jack. “Take us to the crash site,” he demanded, “I need to see your space junk.”

“As soon as I get the nav-com back online,” Jack told them as he pulled himself from under the controls, “Make yourself comfortable,” he glanced between the trio, a small grin appearing on his face, “Carry on with whatever it was you were doing.”

The Doctor frowned, not even wanting to think about what Rose had been trying to do. It made his skin crawl and the Time Lord wished that he could forget the whole thing had ever happened.

“They were talking about dancing,” Aries said with a frown, still holding the suspicion that it wasn’t dancing that the Doctor and Rose had been talking about. Though for the life of her, she just couldn’t figure out what they were talking about.

Jack snorted, “That didn’t look like talking.”

“It didn’t feel like dancing,” Rose added, rather put out about how the Doctor had reacted. She had thought that since she was the one who stayed with the Doctor and not continuously vanish like a certain red head, that the Doctor would just forget about Aries and see Rose as the better option. They didn’t even know Aries very well, but the Doctor seemed to trust the red head. Rose didn’t know why, but she was going to find out.

Jack looked to the blonde with a raised eyebrow as the Doctor led Aries back over to the bed, wanting to check her over with the sonic once again. From what the American had seen, it hadn’t even been close to dancing. If anything, it had looked as though the Doctor had wanted to be anywhere else, far away from Rose.


	8. The Penny Drops

When Aries was sitting on the bed, the Doctor pulled out his sonic. “Let me,” he said softly, holding out his hand to her.

Aries hesitated before placing her hand in the Doctor’s and as his hand enclosed around hers, she couldn’t help but swallow as that unknown feeling reappeared in her gut. Except for Severus, she couldn’t remember the last time someone had been so concern with her wellbeing, though it confused her as to why the Doctor was acting like that around her.

A part of her wanted to be suspicious. Wanted to know if he had an alternative motive behind his actions, but another part of her couldn’t deny how genuine his concern had been. How genuine it still was.

As the Doctor ran his sonic over her hand, the tip lighting up blue, he couldn’t help but wonder what Aries was thinking when she suddenly looked away from him as she frowned, her expression conflicted. He took the opportunity to do another DNA scan, thinking that it was possible that the nanogenes had corrupted the last scan he had done.

When the Doctor had finished, Aries looked back to him, pushing aside her feelings as she swallowed. “Those nanogenes, they were the ones that did this, weren’t they?” she asked the Doctor quietly, keeping her voice low so she didn’t alert the others to their conversation.

The Doctor didn’t say anything, though he inclined his head slightly, confirming Aries’ suspicions and she exhaled heavily. When her gaze dropped from his and back to her now unscarred hand, the Doctor’s grip tightened, causing Aries to look back to him, her eyebrows furrowing.

“I promise that I will try and do anything to fix this,” he told her gently but firmly, “If there is anyway to stop them, I won’t stop searching until I find it.” The Time Lord knew it was risky to promise something like that to Aries, but he also knew that what he had just said was the truth. There was no way he was going to leave her to figure this out on her own.

Aries nodded slightly, feeling somewhat comforted by the Doctor’s words and the Time Lord squeezed her hand before letting it go. The red head frowned slightly at the loss of his touch, though was quick to brush the feeling away, unsure why she still felt like reaching out to retake his hand.

Thankfully, a distraction came from Rose as the blonde’s voice cut through the silence, “They stole your memories?”

Aries couldn’t help but wince at Rose’s pitch and she glanced at the blonde and Jack, wondering what they were talking about.

“Two years of my life,” Jack nodded, “No idea what I did.” The American nodded to the Doctor and Aries, “Your friends over there don’t trust me, and for all I know, they’re right not to,” he added as he turned his gaze back to the controls. He couldn’t help but feel frustrated by the loss of his memories, and it frustrated him even more as the familiarity he had experienced earlier with Aries.

“She’s not my friend,” Rose huffed angrily under her breath, breaking the conman from his thoughts.

He raised his eyebrow slightly at the blondes words, but made no other indication that he had heard her. He continued working on the controls before he made a noise of triumph, gaining the other’s attention.

“Okay, we’re good to go,” he told the group, rather glad that he could finally prove that he wasn’t at fault with what had happened, “Crash site?”

\----

The group appeared at Limehouse Green where the medical ship was sitting nearby under a tarp.

“There it is,” Jack said, motioning to the covered ship before he looked around. His eyes lit up when he recognised one of the soldiers that were patrolling the area. “Hey, they’ve got Algy on duty,” he remarked, “It must be important.”

“We’ve got to get past them,” the Doctor informed the man with a frown and Rose smiled as she straightened her outfit.

“Are the words, ‘distract the guard’ heading in my general direction?” she asked as she adjusted her shirt.

Aries glanced to her as Jack replied, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“I don’t think that’d be such a good idea.”

“Don’t worry,” Rose said with a smirk, “I think I can handle it.”

The Doctor had to hold back a snort at the blondes words, knowing full well how awful her attempts at flirting were like. He glanced to Aries, _Then again. There’s a reason as to why I wouldn’t fall for it,_ he mused, knowing that there was only one person for him. Though he couldn’t help but feel sad at the knowledge that Aries had no idea about who he was.

Jack just shook his head at the blonde. He found her rather flirtatious, which usually would have been enough for him. But Rose Tyler seemed to be _very_ available and it surprised him when he found himself thinking about what the Mickey guy thought about her flirting with others.

“I’ve gotten to know Algy quite well since I’ve been in town,” he told Rose, “Trust me, you’re not his type,” he said with a grin before moving off. “I’ll distract him,” he called back over his shoulder, “Don’t wait up.”

Frowning at Jack’s retreating form, Aries couldn’t help but wonder just how Jack was going to distract him. His comment had her thinking that the man, Algy, was gay, but she couldn’t see how that would help Jack persuade the soldier to let them through.

Seeing Aries’ expression, the Doctor spoke up, causing the red head to turn to him. “Relax. He’s a fifty-first century guy,” he smiled, “He’s just a bit more flexible when it comes to _dancing_ ,” he explained.

“Dancing?” Aries muttered as she looked back to Jack, trying to work out how dancing had anything to do with trying to persuade the guard. Once again, she felt as though she was missing something, but for the life of her, Aries just couldn’t work out what and it was slowly start to frustrate her.

“How flexible?” Rose questioned curiously.

“Well, by this time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy,” the Time Lord explained, though his eyebrows creased when he noticed Aries expression. It was one of utter confusion.

“What has that got to do with dancing?” Aries asked him with a frown, still trying to work out what the Doctor was insinuating. It was the second time they had spoke about dancing and Aries found that she just couldn’t follow the conversation.

The Doctor couldn’t help but smirk as he replied, “So many species, so little time,” though his smirk fell when Aries expression didn’t change.

“What, that’s what we do when we get out there?” Rose asked, “That’s our mission? We seek new life, and, and....”

The penny finally dropped for Aries and her eyes widened. “You mean sex?” she asked the Doctor, causing him to freeze as his jaw dropped, Rose being in a similar state. “What?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing at their expressions, “I don’t understand how dancing and sex have anything in common,” she continued as her nose wrinkled as she shook her head, “Seriously. How is anyone gonna get sex from dancing?”

The Time Lord cleared his throat as he felt his cheeks warm, though he was quick to realise that Aries was being quite serious. But that realisation only made his cheeks flush a deeper red. He tried so hard not to think of how one could get sex from dancing, but he was failing miserably.

Thankfully, they were distracted when Jack’s voice called out, “It’s me, Jack.”

The three of them looked towards Jack, though the Doctor couldn’t help but glance at Aries as he did so. They missed what Algy said as a reply to the American, but they were quick to move towards the pair when the soldier started to retch and fall to his knees as his face morphed into a gas mask.

“Stay back!” the Doctor shouted to the other soldiers who had come forwards to try and help.

“You men, stay away,” Jack shouted as well, getting the men to back away.

“The effect’s become air-borne, accelerating,” the Doctor exclaimed and Aries flinched when the air-raid sirens began to sound over London. She glanced around frantically, knowing that things had just gone from bad to worse.

“What’s keeping us safe?” Rose asked the Doctor in a panic, though it was Aries who replied, “Nothing.”

Bombs started dropping in the distance and they all looked in the direction they were falling.

“Ah, here they come again,” Jack groaned.

“All we need,” Rose complained before she remembered what Jack had mentioned earlier. “Didn’t you say a bomb was going to land here?” she asked the man.

“Never mind about that,” the Doctor huffed as he made sure that Aries was not going to leave his side. “If the contaminates air-borne now, there’s hours left.”

“For what?” Jack questioned.

“Till nothing, forever,” the Doctor replied, not noticing when Aries slipped away when she thought she heard a familiar voice singing. “For the entire human race,” the Time Lord continued, his hearts beating painfully in his chest at the possibility of losing Aries. He wouldn’t let that happen, knowing that there was no way he was going to lose Aries.

His hand searched for hers instinctively, only for his head to snap to where his Nesdra had just been when he realised she wasn’t there and he felt as though time stopped around him. It was only when he could hear someone singing did it feel as though time started again and he went in search of the source, wondering if Aries had gone to investigate the noise as well.

The red head had already reached the tent and opened the flap, having recognised Nancy’s voice as she sung a lullaby. When she stepped inside, Aries noticed a soldier with a gas mask slumped across a table and she motioned Nancy to continue when the younger woman paused in her singing.

“When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. Down will come baby, cradle and all.”

Aries was quick to make it to where Nancy was sitting, finding the young woman handcuffed. The tent flap opened again and the Doctor was relieved when he spotted Aries, though he also gestured to Nancy to continue her singing.

“Rock-a-bye baby, on the tops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.”

Without thinking or caring about secrecy, Aries was quick to unfasten the handcuffs with a pulse of magic and helped Nancy out of the tent.

The Doctor glanced back to where Nancy had been sitting, noticing the opened the handcuffs. He shook it off for now, but he didn’t think that Aries had the keys for them. As he followed the two women, the Time Lord couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever find out just what type of abilities Aries had, or if she would ever tell him.

\----

When the trio returned to the bomb site, the area was already lit up and Jack had the spacecraft uncovered.

“You see?” Jack said as they approached, still trying to get them to understand that he had nothing to do with what was happening. “Just an ambulance.”

Nancy looked to Aries in surprise, “That’s an ambulance?” she questioned.

“It’s hard to understand,” Rose spoke up, put out by the fact that she felt that she was once again being ignored, “It’s from another world.”

Jack examined the ship as he tried to get it open, noticing that there was marks upon it like someone had tried to force their way inside. “They’ve tried to get in,” he muttered as he moved to the keypad.

“Of course they have,” the Doctor scoffed, “They think they’ve got their hands on Hitler’s latest secret weapon.” He then noticed Jack was keying in access codes into the keypad, “What are you doing?

“The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you’ll know I had nothing to do with it,” Jack replied, not looking up from what he was doing. There was a sudden bang as sparks exploded from the keypad as an alarm went off. The access panel started flashing with a red light and Jack was quick to back away as he muttered, “Didn’t happen last time.”

“It hadn’t crashed last time,” Aries remarked with furrowed brows as she moved towards the flashing panel, trying not to wince at the alarms pitch, “There’ll be emergency protocols.”

“Doctor, what is that?” Rose asked as Aries studied the panel. There was a sudden battering at the hospital doors before they opened and the patients started heading towards them. “Doctor!” the blonde shouted when she spotted them approaching and the Time Lord was quick to snap into action.

“Captain, secure those gates!” he ordered Jack.

“Why?” Jack asked, only for Aries to look to him, her eyes flashing, “Just do it,” she growled and the man was quick to scamper off.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at his Nesdra before turning to Nancy. He couldn’t help but find it amusing how she could get Jack to follow her orders and it reminded him of their time in Downing Street. “Nancy, how’d you get in here?” he questioned the young woman, getting his thoughts back on track.

“I cut the wire,” she explained, pointing to where she had come through.

“Show Rose,” he said before turning to his companion, “Setting two thousand, four hundred and twenty-eight D,” he explained as he tossed her his sonic.

“What?” Rose questioned, looking at the sonic in confusion.

“Reattaches barbed wire,” Aries spoke up, not noticing the Doctor glance at her in confusion as the other’s rushed off to fix the fence. She winced as the bombs continued to fall, looking to the Doctor to ask him what he wanted her to do, only to pause when she noticed he was watching her.

“How did you know that?” the Time Lord questioned, unable to help his curiosity this time.

“What?” Aries asked with a frown.

“My sonic,” the Doctor stated, “You knew the setting.”

Aries frown deepened as Jack returned, unable to explain how she knew what the setting was on the sonic. She let Jack have access to the panel as she tried to remember where she would have learnt about the sonic, but knew that there was nothing in the books she had read that mentioned anything about a sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor was about to say something else to Aries, seeing her troubled expression, but Jack cut in as he managed to get the ship open.

“It’s empty,” he told the pair who had turned their attention back to him, “Look at it,” he showed them the empty interior of the ship.

“What did you expect in a Chula medical transporter?” the Doctor asked the American, “Bandages? Cough drops?” he asked before turning to Aries when Jack just looked at him blankly, having no idea.

Aries frowned at Jack, holding up her hand that had once been scarred. “Nanogenes,” she told the man, causing him to blanch.

“It wasn’t empty, Captain,” the Doctor explained as realisation set in for Jack, “There was enough nanogenes to in there to rebuild a species.”

“Oh, god,” Jack breathed, looking between the two as Rose and Nancy returned from fixing the fence. His eyes stopped when they landed on Aries, and he suddenly felt sick that whatever had happened to her earlier, it had been his fault.

“Getting it now, are we?” the Doctor asked, barely managing to hold back on his anger. He couldn’t really help it though, knowing that the conman had not only put the entire Earth at risk, but his Nesdra as well. _That_ was something the Time Lord wouldn’t stand for. “When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gas mask.”

“What? And they brought him back to life?” Rose questioned in surprise, “Can they do that?”

“What’s life?” the Doctor questioned, “Life’s easy. A quirk of matter. Nature’s way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogenes. One problem, though. These nanogenes, they’re not like the ones on you ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don’t know what a human being’s supposed to look like. All they’ve got to go on is one little boy, and there’s not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they’re programmed to do. They patch it up. Can’t tell what’s gas mask and what’s skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because, you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it’s time to fix all the rest. And they won’t ever stop. They won’t ever, ever stop. The entire human race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother and nothing in the world can stop it!”

“I didn’t know,” Jack muttered, aghast at the knowledge that he was responsible behind everything that was happening to the patients.

The Doctor ignored him as he moved to work on the ambulance. He needed to find a way to fix this, and quickly.

“Mummy. Mummy,” the patients repeated as they got closer to the fence that surrounded the site.

“Aries!” Nancy shrieked in terror and quickly grabbed the red head’s hand, unknowingly stopping her from trying to assist the Doctor.

“It’s bringing all the patients here,” Aries said as she looked between the ship and said patients as they continued to try and make their way through the fence.

“The ship thinks it’s under attack,” the Doctor agreed, “It’s calling up the troops. Standard protocol,” he explained.

“But the gas mask people aren’t troops,” Rose exclaimed.

“They are now,” Aries told her with a frown, nodding to the ambulance, “That’s a Chula battle-field ambulance. The Chula’s use nanogenes in wars to heal their soldiers, but they also reconfigured them,” she turned her gaze towards the patients, “Nanogenes don’t just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, programme you. It’s why Jamie is so strong. Why he can om-com.”

“How do you know that?” Rose asked with a frown.

Aries looked to Rose and raised an eyebrow, “I read.”

“He’s a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes,” the Doctor cut in when Rose was about to say something else, “All that weapon tech in the hands of a hysterical four year old looking for his mummy. And now there’s an army of them.”

“Why don’t they attack?” Jack asked as he observed the patients that had gathered around the barbed-wire fence.

“Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander,” the Doctor explained.

Jack looked to the Doctor in surprise, “The child?”

“Jamie,” Aries and Nancy corrected him.

“What?” Jack said, turning to look at them.

Nancy shook her head as she gripped Aries’ hand tightly, “Not the child. Jamie.”

“So, how long until the bomb falls?” Rose asked as she looked up to the sky.

Jack looked to the device on his wrist, “Any second,” he told her.

“What’s the matter, Captain?” the Doctor mocked, “Bit close to the volcano for you?”

“He’s just a little boy,” Nancy muttered in distress and Aries knelt down a little so she was the same height as she comforted the young woman.

“I know he is,” she agreed, “He’s just a little boy who want’s his mummy.”

Nancy’s eyes widened and Aries smiled softly. “You know?” she asked the red head quietly, and Aries nodded.

“There isn’t a little boy born who wouldn’t tear the world apart to save his mummy,” Aries continued as she squeezed Nancy’s hand.

“And this little boy can,” the Doctor spoke up, looking to the pair.

“So what’re we going to do?” Rose asked.

“It’s all my fault,” Nancy told Aries, who shook her head adamantly.

“No,” she told the younger woman gently, “This was not your fault, Nancy.”

“But it is,” Nancy sobbed, dropping her head.

“Mummy. Mummy. Mummy.”

Aries lifted Nancy’s head with her hand, getting the woman to look at her. “Nancy, this is not your fault. You had know idea this would happen. I don’t know why you never told him,” she said softly, “But I can understand why you never told anyone else. A young single mother, all on her own.”

The sounds of bombs falling was getting closer.

“Doctor, that bomb. We’ve got seconds,” Jack told the Time Lord.

“You can teleport us out?” Rose asked Jack hopefully.

Jack shook his head, “Not you guys. The nav-com’s back online. Going to take too long to override the protocols.”

The Doctor, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Aries and Nancy, waved his hand dismissively to Jack. “So, it’s volcano day. Do what you’ve got to do,” he said before approaching the two women.

“Jack?” Rose looked to the American, but he barely glanced at her before he vanished.

“He’s not your brother, is he?” the Doctor asked Nancy softly, having heard their conversation, “A teenage mother in 1941. So you hid. You lied. You even lied to him.”

The gate that led to the bombsite opened and Jamie stepped inside before he stopped, staring at Nancy. “Are you my mummy?” he asked.

“He’s never going to keep asking, Nancy,” Aries said sadly, knowing full well what Jamie was experiencing, “He’s never going to stop.”

“Mummy?” Jamie asked, still looking at Nancy.

“Tell him, Nancy,” the Doctor urged her gently, “The future of the human race is in you hands. Trust me and tell him.”

Nancy hesitated, looking to Aries who nodded.

“Trust us, Nancy,” Aries told her, nudging the woman towards her son.

“Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?” Jamie asked as he and Nancy got closer to each other.

“Yes,” Nancy confirmed, “Yes, I am your mummy.”

Aries watched on, her thoughts bittersweet. Her hand unconsciously fiddled with her necklaces as she wondered if she would ever find her parents, or even just to know who they were. Having been left abandoned at the orphanage when she was only one, Aries had rather hoped that she could have found some record of them as she grew up, but it was as if they had never existed. Now however, she doubted she would ever find them.

“Are you my mummy?” Jamie asked.

“Yes,” Nancy told him.

“Are you my mummy?” Jamie repeated.

“He doesn’t understand,” the Doctor stated, his hearts heavy, “There’s not enough of him left.”

Aries dropped her hand from her necklaces and glanced at the Doctor. In a very uncharacteristic move, she grabbed his hand and the Time Lord jumped, having not expected it. But when he noticed it was Aries, he was quick to relaxed.

She offered him a small, but knowing smile before looking back to Nancy and Jamie. “He’ll understand,” she stated softly.

The Doctor frowned a little at Aries expression before turning his gaze back to Nancy as she continued to approach her son. He shifted his hand a little, intertwining his fingers with Aries’, knowing that something had happened with her family. He could remember the sadness in her eyes when she spoke of her father back in Downing Street, though the Time Lord winced internally when he remembered the last time he had seen Aries.

“I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy,” Nancy told Jamie, “I’m so sorry. I am so, so sorry,” she continued as she hugged Jamie and a cloud of nanogenes surrounded them.

“What’s happening?” Rose asked in alarm, “Doctor, it’s changing her, we should-"

“Shush!” the Doctor cut her off, his hand tightening around Aries', “Come on, please. Come on, you clever little nanogenes. Figure it out! The mother, she’s the mother. It’s got to be enough information. Figure it out,” he pleaded.

“What’s happening?” Rose questioned.

“See?” the Doctor said as the cloud of nanogenes left the pair, “Recognising the same DNA.”

They rush over to the pair as Jamie let go of Nancy and she fell to the ground.

“Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one,” the Doctor pleaded as he removed Jamie’s gas mask, “Ha, ha!” he exclaimed, “Welcome back! Twenty years till pop music – you’re going to love it.”

Aries helped Nancy up off the ground, a smile on her face as she and Nancy watched the Doctor lift Jamie into the air.

“What happened?” Nancy asked.

The Doctor placed Jamie on the ground next to his mother and Aries, “The nanogenes recognised the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn’t change you because you changed them! Ha, ha! Mother knows best!”

“Oh, Jamie,” Nancy said as she hugged her son.

Aries watched on with a small smile, though it fell at the thought of Doctor Constantine and the others who were still infected by the nanogenes.

“Doctor, that bomb,” Rose reminded them.

The Doctor didn’t seem too alarmed as he answered casually, “Taken care of it.”

Aries frowned, “How?” she asked, looking to the man.

“Psychology,” he replied, gesturing to Nancy and Jamie.

The bomb hustled towards them and Aries couldn’t help but stiffen when she saw it, but the Doctor was right as not a moment later it was caught in some kind of light beam just before impact.

Jack appeared a moment later, sitting astride the bomb. “Doctor!” he called.

“Good lad!” the Doctor said with a grin.

“The bomb's already commenced detonation. I’ve put it in stasis but it won’t last long,” Jack told them.

“Change of plan. Don’t need the bomb,” the Doctor told Jack, “Can you get rid of it, safely as you can?” he asked.

Jack nodded before looking to Rose and Aries, “Rose? Red?”

“Yeah?” Rose asked, though Aries frowned at the name he used for her.

“Goodbye,” Jack said before he disappeared with the bomb, only to reappear a moment later, “By the way, love the shirt,” he told Rose before turning to Aries, “And Red, smile more,” he said before he vanished again. His spaceship sucked up the light beam and then flew off.

Aries continued to frown after Jack’s departure. She wasn’t to sure what to make of the name he had used, nor the fact he told her to smile more. Her attention was diverted to the Doctor, though, when he summoned the nanogenes to himself. “What are you doing?” she asked curiously, her eyes were wide as he was standing before a large cloud of golden particles.

The Doctor turned his head slightly towards her and smiled, “Software patch. Going to email the upgrade. I promised you that I would find a way to fix this,” he flung his hands out and the nanogenes flew towards the patients, who then fell to the ground, “This is me keeping that promise.”

Aries watched on in awe as the patients all stand up, all looking back to normal.

“Everyone lives, Aries,” the Doctor exclaimed as he pulled her into a hug, “Just this once, everyone lives!”

Aries stood frozen in shock when she felt the Doctor lips against her forehead before letting her go. She blinked a few times as he rushed off over to the patients and Doctor Constantine. Her brows furrowed as she felt a slight warmth run up her face before she swallowed. Aries shook her head, trying to get rid of the odd sensation she was feeling when she noticed Rose looking at her with a scowl. “What?” she asked, rather confused about what had just happened.

Rose’s scowl seemed to deepen as she looked away, “Nothing,” the blonde muttered.

Aries didn’t quite believe her, but shrugged it off. She still had no idea what had just happened and the more she tried to work it out, the odd sensation returned so she ignored and in favour of focusing on Doctor Constantine and the patients that the Doctor were talking to.

“Doctor Constantine,” the Doctor said as Aries walked towards them, “Who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor. The world doesn’t want to be without you just yet, and I don’t blame it one bit. These are you patients. All better now.”

Constantine frowned a little as he looked around, “Yes, yes, so it seems. They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any reason for that?”

Aries couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her mentor looking better and she was quick to answer, “Cutbacks,” she said.

“Aries!” Constantine exclaimed, seeing the woman he thought of as a daughter. Her smile brightened as she hugged him. “I’m glad to see your okay, my dear,” Constantine said, looking at her scar-free hand.

The Doctor watched on, both happy and sad. As much as he wished she would come with him, he knew she couldn’t. This was his Nesdra’s past and he wouldn’t mess with it. He would do anything to make sure she met him in the future. He managed a smile as he continued, “Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you’re probably going to find that they’re cured. Just tell them what a great Doctor you _both_ are. Just, don’t make a big thing of it. Okay?”

Aries tilted her head at the Doctor as he walked away. She was suddenly hit with a feeling of sadness at the sight of his retreating form, but it didn’t last long as she was distracted by an old woman who hobbled up to her and Constantine.

“Doctor Constantine,” the woman Aries recognised as Mrs Harcourt said.

Constantine smiled at the old lady, “Mrs Harcourt. How much better you’re looking,” he complimented.

Mrs Harcourt looked at them, rather bewildered, “My leg's grown back,” she told them, “When I came to the hospital, I had one leg.”

Aries smiled at the woman as she noticed the Doctor glance back at them, “Well, there is a war going on. Is it possible you miscounted?” she asked.

The Doctor snorted softly as he continued over to the ambulance before standing on it, “Right, you lot. Lots to do. Beat the Germans, save the world. Don’t forget the welfare state!” he told them before starting to fiddle with the keypad, “Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody’s clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?”

“Usually the first in line,” Rose muttered.


	9. Thank You

Aries frowned as she looked out of the hospital window, a finger tracing over the back of her now glove-free hand where the scar from the nanogenes had once had been.

She had hoped to see the Doctor before he had left, but the man had been quick to disappear.

The red head had actually wanted to thank him for keeping his promise as it wasn’t often that she met someone who did. In her sixty-six years of living, Aries had only met a handful of people who she could name to have kept their word and felt as though after what the Doctor had done, he was another she could add to that list.

The first two, of course, were her adopted father and Amelia, although they were possibly the only two people Aries felt that she could trust with her life. There were a few others throughout the years, but no one came close to them....until now.

Even the great Albus Dumbledore had lost any ounce of trust she had once harboured the moment Aries had found out what the man had ordered her father to do. He called it an act of mercy, but Aries and her father had known better. The wizard was a conniving, manipulative old coot who used the people around him like chess pieces to help him reach his own goals, not caring who he hurt in the process.

All in the name of the Greater Good.

Aries’ frown deepened as her mind drifted back to the time when she had spoken to her father about what Dumbledore had asked him to do.

\----

_“You know what I must do, Rieka,” Severus told the recently turned twenty year old Rieka as they sat in his private quarters one evening._

_Rieka looked to her father, her thoughts troubled, “I know, father, but I can’t see why he has asked you of this. Does he not realise that it is not Draco who would be affected by this? That what he has demanded of you may be to much?”_

_Severus looked at his daughter, his heart heavy. He knew what he had promised Dumbledore, and every day since he had adopted Rieka, he had never regretted his decision more. He also knew that as much as Dumbledore seemed to show he cared for Rieka, he held no such feelings for himself, otherwise the old coot would not be asking him to do this, putting not only his daughter at risk, but his own life as well._

_He smiled, however, as his thoughts drifted to the young woman before him. He knew, no matter what happened during this war, that she would survive and be happy. He had seen it for himself what she will become. He also knew that he would do anything for Rieka to get there, to make sure she was where she needed to be. “It cannot be changed, Rie,” he told his daughter._

_Rieka frowned, “I know, father,” she said sadly, looking down at her hands, “I just wish that he had asked someone else,” she told him as she looked back up, her eyes glistening with tears, “I know it’s selfish, but I don’t know what I would do if something were to happen to you,” she said as her tears started to fall._

_Severus wrapped her into a hug, “Do not worry for me, my Rie. What I must do is my own fault. I never fully understood what the old man wanted of me when I asked him to save the woman I thought I loved. It was only after meeting you did I truly know what love was, and Lily Potter was not it,” he whispered, tightening his hold on his daughter, “You helped me realise so much, and I will always be thankful for having you in my life. You are one of the brightest things in my life and I will do what is needed to help you through this,” he continued to whisper as Rieka cried in his arms._

\----

Aries was broken from her thoughts when a hand rested on her shoulder and she jumped in surprise, looking behind her and sighed when she realised it was only Doctor Constantine.

“If you’re quick, you might catch him,” Constantine told her with a smile, though as Aries eyebrows furrowed, his smile only widened. “I may not know your past, Aries, but I know that the man had helped you. Helped us. I may not remember everything that happened while I was infected, but I’m not too old to see that he had gained a bit of trust from you.”

Aries swallowed as she nodded, “He did. He promised that he would help find a way to fix what had happened,” she sighed as she looked back out the window, “And he managed to do it. Somehow, he saved us all,” she finished, her eyebrows furrowing, remembering what the Doctor had done with the nanogenes.

“Then let him know that,” Constantine told her as he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, “But you might want to fly quick. No one knows how long he’ll stick around.”

Aries eyes widened as her head snapped to Constantine in alarm.

Constantine shook his head with a soft smile, “Do not worry, my dear. I may be old, but I’m not senile,” he said with a chuckle before he moved away, his hand dropping from Aries shoulder.

She watched him go before she quickly rushed up to her room and wasted no time as she shifted and shot out of the open window.

All that was on her mind was to find the Doctor.

\----

A few streets away from the TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose walked in silence.

Rose was rather annoyed that once again her travels with the Doctor had led to running into Aries again and she couldn’t work out why the red head wouldn’t just leave them alone.

The Doctor on the other hand walked with a smile, his hearts light at the thought that, just this once, everyone had lived. It was almost impossible to keep the smile off his face and even the thought of leaving Aries behind hadn’t dimmed his joy.

As much as the Time Lord had wanted to ask if Aries would want to travel with him, he knew that it wasn’t the time. He also knew that he would see her again, and hopefully next time Aries would be aligned with his timeline.

Pulling his sonic from his pocket, the Doctor flipped it in his hand. He was rather hopeful that he could finally work out what his Nesdra was, and although he knew it probably wasn’t the right way to go about it, the Doctor knew that asking Aries outright would only lead to her shutting down on him. His Aries, or what he called her future self, was so different than the Aries he had met today, but he couldn’t deny that seeing her had helped him understand her a little better.

His Aries was so much more closed off, and as much as her need to help those around her hadn’t changed, he could see it in her eyes that something had happened between this Aries and his. There was a sadness that lingered in his Aries eyes, as well as a coldness and it really made him wonder just what had happened for the change.

“Doctor!” a voice he could recognise anywhere called, breaking him from his thoughts and the Doctor stopped walking and turned towards it with a smile as Aries appeared from around a corner.

“Aries,” he breathed, though he was rather surprised she was looking for him. It was the first time she had looked for him.

“What does she want?” Rose huffed, glaring at the red head.

The Doctor frowned at his companion, thinking he really needed to have a chat with her. If she was going to keep behaving like this towards Aries, he might actually decide to leave her at home. He wouldn’t have anyone disrespecting his Nesdra.

“Doctor,” Aries repeated, stopping to catch her breath. She had flown as fast as she could before spotting them and used an alleyway to shift back. The red head was just glad she had caught them before they had left.

“Aries” the Doctor said with a smile, before his eyebrows creased in concern as she continued to catch her breath. “Is everything okay?” he questioned, suddenly wondering if something was wrong.

“No, no,” Aries was quick to assure when she finally managed to even out her breathing, “I just wanted to see you before you disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” the Time Lord questioned, rather perplexed as to how she’d know about his TARDIS.

Aries smiled, “It wasn’t that hard to figure out that you’re a time traveller,” she explained, and the Doctor couldn’t help but think she had quite a nice smile, even though he rarely saw it. “With what you said, or rather didn’t say about meeting me in the future,” Aries continued, “But it was your sonic that gave you away from the very start. It’s way too advanced for the twentieth century.”

The Doctor stood there rather speechless, even if he was silently relieved that she didn’t know about his TARDIS. His eyes slid to Rose when he realised that it hadn’t been his screwdriver that had informed Aries that he knew her from the future and even if he was still angry with Rose about what had happened with her father, he was rather glad that she hadn’t said anything that would jeopardise his past, and Aries’ future.

Aries fiddled with her hands for a moment, rather uncertain what to say now she was here. Emotions weren’t her strong point and thanking someone was something she knew even less about. Drawing her bottom lip between her teeth, Aries took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she looked back to the Doctor. “I....I wanted to thank you,” she said quietly.

Rose rolled her eyes and huffed under her breath as she continued walking towards the TARDIS. She wasn’t going to wait around and watch the red head flirt with the Doctor.

To say that the Doctor was shocked by Aries’ words was an understatement. The woman before him was so unlike the woman who had taken him down a few pegs in his last adventure. The Aries before him now was someone who seemed rather insecure and shy, giving him an insight of what Aries was truly like and actually helped him understand her a bit better, allowing him to see that there was a softer side to her.

The Doctor managed to break out of his shock and smiled softly at her, “You don’t need to thank me, Aries.”

Aries fidgeted a bit more, unsure as to what to say. It was probably true that she didn’t need to, but she wanted to. “I just wanted to,” she muttered. She ducked her head, silently wishing she had longer hair to hide her face. It was a habit she had picked up from her adopted father when she felt embarrassed or shy. “Not, not a lot of people mean what they say,” she continued as she slowly looked to him, “And I wanted to tell you that it meant a lot to me.”

The Doctor tilted his head slightly as he regarded the woman before him. It wasn’t hard to gather what she was talking about, or that she was feeling rather uncomfortable about talking about it, but it lightened his hearts to see this side of Aries. It made him wonder again at what had happened to the woman in front of him for her to become the Aries he had met at Downing Street.

Aries swallowed heavily as she continued, seeming to gather some of her composure back, “I haven’t met a lot of people that would do what you did,” she smiled slightly, “And I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me. If it was anything like today, I can’t wait to experience it,” she said, “I wish you safe travels,” she added before she turned to leave. She knew she had to leave before she said something she shouldn’t.

The Doctor took a step towards Aries, “Aries,” he called, causing the red head to pause and glance back at him in curiosity, “I just wanted to say that meeting you was fantastic,” he told her with a warm smile.

Aries furrowed her eyebrows, rather confused for the moment before her face lit up slightly. She smiled at the Doctor before she quickly walked away, feeling rather hopeful about her future.

\----

It was hours later in the TARDIS when the Doctor managed to find the time to try and figure out who and what Aries was.

He had saved Jack earlier, knowing that the man surely would have died having seen that his ship didn’t have any escape pods. Rose had probably thought that he had done so because she had asked him to, but he two reasons as to why he had saved Jack.

The first was because he didn’t feel as though the man deserved to die. In the end, Jack had shown himself to be a good man. He had stuck around with them and had saved them by taking the bomb away. In doing so, he had also saved Aries and that alone was enough to give the man a second chance.

The second reason was rather selfish. After what had happened in the storage room with Rose's attempt at getting him to dance with him. Not to mention the second time when he had saved Jack, which he had adamantly refused to do so. The Doctor hoped that Rose might turn her attention onto the other man. Jack was very flirtatious and the Doctor hoped that it would be enough to keep Rose away from him. There was only one person he wanted to _dance_ with, and it wasn’t Rose or Jack.

The Doctor coughed, feeling the tips of his ears warm as he remembered how serious Aries had been when she had mentioned dancing and sex. He had originally thought she was joking around, but he was quick to realise she was being quite serious. He quickly shook his head as he inserted the sonic into the console, trying to distract himself from where his thoughts were taking him.

The screen lit up and he waited for the TARDIS to download the scan of Aries DNA he had taken earlier. A part of him did feel bad about not actually asking her, but he quickly brushed the feeling away when the screen started showing what he had been looking for and he frowned as he read it.

“That can’t be right?” he muttered with a frown, his eyes rereading the information again, “She can’t be just human,” he said louder, slowly getting frustrated, “Refresh and download again,” he told the TARDIS and he watched as the screen blank before coming back on again.

It hadn’t changed much, but he still wasn’t getting anything but human with some inconsistencies. Suddenly the screen flashed and Gallifreyan writing appeared.

“What do you mean it’s inconclusive!” he fumed as he hit the side of the scanner. He quickly snatched his hand away when the ship shocked him. “It’s not my fault you can’t figure this out!” he shouted, causing the TARDIS to hum angrily at him, “What about the energy readings?” he asked, still angry but no longer shouting.

The screen flashed and showed another. As the Doctor looked at it, he grew more and more frustrated. The energy readings were abnormally high. He raised his eyebrows as they continued to get higher before the screen suddenly flashed once again and more Gallifreyan writing appeared.

“Unknown?!” the Doctor said in disbelief, “And you’re checked it against every data bank?” he asked.

The TARDIS let out another hum, this time in affirmation.

“Then how is it unknown?” he asked, rather confused. The ship didn’t answer him which only caused his frustration to grow. “What good are you if you can’t even figure out what she is?” he fumed at his ship, getting another warning hum, “Oh, shush you,” he scolded.

The TARDIS let out an unimpressed hum and the scanner turned off.

“Hey. I was looking at that!” the Doctor shouted as he tried to turn the screen back on. “Oh, what. You annoyed with me now?” he asked sarcastically.

“Everything okay in here?” Jack’s voice sounded from the doorway that led further into the TARDIS. He had been awoken by the Doctor's shouting and was rather surprised and amused to see him having a one sided argument with his ship.

The Doctor looked away from the console scanner to Jack, “Fan-bloody-tastic,” he grumbled.

\----

“Where are we going?” Nancy asked Aries as she and Jamie followed the red head down a street.

Aries glanced back to the pair with a smile. “1941 is no place for a young, single mother to raise her son on the streets,” she said as she approached a house, “And I know that you both need a place to stay.”

Nancy’s eyes widened when they stopped in front of a large house that had a small front yard.

“This is my home,” Aries explained, turning to the pair. A small smile appeared on her face as she watched Jamie’s eyes light up, “And if you would accept, it is yours as well.”

“You....you can’t be serious?” Nancy asked in disbelief, her hand tightening around her sons in her awe.

Aries held out her hand, “I am quite serious, Nancy,” she said, “But I need your hand for a moment, if that’s okay?”

“What for?” Nancy questioned, just as Jamie managed to get out of her grip and grab Aries outstretched hand.

“You saw today that there was a lot more to this world than you thought possible,” Aries said as she shook her head fondly at Jamie as he tried to drag her towards the house, though she didn’t allow him to do so just yet, “And this home has some certain protections around it that keep it safe.”

“What type of protections?” Nancy frowned, rather unsure.

“Nothing harmful to you or Jamie,” Aries looked back to Nancy, “But it will keep you both safe for as long as you decide to reside here,” she held out her free hand, “But I will need touch to allow you inside the first time.”

Nancy looked at Aries outstretched hand before the house behind her.

“Come on, mummy. I want to see inside,” Jamie stated, still trying to drag Aries towards the building.

Aries just cocked an eyebrow at Nancy, and although she was now smiling fully, she still waited patiently for Nancy to make her choice.

What felt like hours, Nancy hesitantly grabbed Aries hand and she felt a jolt pass through her at the contact. She gasped when she saw Aries eyes swirling red before they faded back to their normal silver-grey and the red head let her hand go.

“That tickled,” Jamie remarked with a giggle, causing Aries to shake her head.

“What was that?” Nancy asked, rather alarmed.

“That was the house allowing you entry,” Aries told her as she allowed Jamie to drag her towards their new home, knowing the wards would now accept them inside.

“The house?” Nancy asked, following them a little warily. Her dubious expression turned to shock when Aries opened the front door and Jamie took off to go investigate.

“This is now just as much your home as it is mine,” Aries said as Nancy stepped inside, feeling a slight tingle pass down her spine as she did so. “And you welcome to do whatever you like to make it your own.”

“But where will you be staying?” Nancy turned to Aries, now wondering that in the red head allowing them to stay here, she had no where to go.

“I have a place of my own where I keep my research,” the red head replied with a smile, “And although I may pop in from time to time to see how you two are doing, I will be staying there.”

“But, this....” Nancy looked around the living room, never having thought she would have ever been able to live in such a place, “This is too much.”

Shaking her head, Aries placed a hand on the younger woman’s shoulder, “But just what you deserve.”

“Mummy!” Jamie screamed and the two women jumped, only for the little boy to come running back into the room carrying something, “Look mummy, it’s a dinosaur,” he exclaimed, holding up a large plush toy.

Aries snorted and Nancy laughed as she picked up her son and hugged him. She turned to Aries, tears in her eyes. “Thank you,” she told the red head.

“No,” Aries said with a warm smile, “Thank you.”


	10. Father's Day

** London: November 7th, 1987 **

“Aunty Eris? Do you think we could get some ice-cream?” six year old Luka asked as he swung of the red heads arm, his eyes wide and pleading.

Aries raised an amused eyebrow as she turned to Luka’s father. “What do you think, Jamie?”

“Please! Please!” Luka’s pleading was joined in by another that decided to try an hang off Jamie’s arm with the same expression.

“I don’t know?” Jamie said slowly as he picked Mickey up, “What did your parent’s say?” he asked the boy, already knowing the answer.

Mickey scrunched up his nose, “Nana said I could if I was good,” he whined before quickly adding when Jamie just raised an eyebrow at him, “I didn’t get into trouble all week.”

Aries shook her head at the pair as she lifted Luka up, which was becoming harder as the boy grew. “How about this?” she said, drawing the children’s attention. She bopped Luka on the nose as she continued, “If you both can behave and promise not to get any on your clothes, we can get some after the wedding.”

“But aunty,” Luka pouted.

“No buts, young man,” Jamie scolded lightly, “We don’t want you looking like a mess for Stuart and Sarah’s big day.”

“But Aunty Eris can do that wavy thing?” Mickey tried.

“I could,” Aries agreed and both boys brightened, “But if we get ice-cream now, you can’t play at the park.”

“But-“ the boys begun together, only to be cut off by another voice.

“You boy’s aren’t trying to argue with your aunty, are you?”

The pair seemed to wilt as Jamie and Aries placed them back on their feet and they turned to the voice.

“No mummy,” Luka said as he rushed over to his mother when she knelt down and opened her arms.

“Sure you aren’t,” Mary said with a smile, ruffling her son’s hair.

“We weren’t,” Mickey said defiantly, his chest puffing out.

Mary just shook her head as she approached Aries and kissed the red heads cheek. “I really do thank you for this,” she said quietly as she pulled away.

Aries shook her head with a smile, although Jamie and Mary could see the sadness behind it. “It’s the least I could do, Mary,” she said before turning to Jamie, “Your mother was probably one of my closest friends and as much as I want to go....”

“I know,” Jamie told her softly, resting a gently hand on her shoulder, “And I know that Mother will understand.”

“Now come on you two,” Mary cut in as she turned to the two boys, “You two need to get ready, otherwise there will be no park to go along with the ice-cream.”

The boys were quick to rush out of the room, Luka dragging Mickey along as Mary followed after them as they excitedly talked between themselves.

Aries smiled slightly as she watched them leave. “Thick as thieves, those two,” she muttered, her smile growing ever so slightly.

“I really can’t thank you enough for taking Luka with you today,” Jamie spoke up after a moment and Aries looked to him. “I know that he should be there-“

“Jamie,” Aries cut in gently, “I highly doubt that Nancy would want Luka to see her in the state she is in,” she turned her gaze back to where the trio had left when there was giggling as Mary tried to get the boys ready, “And he’s still a child. Luka will understand why you didn’t take him.”

“I hope so,” Jamie murmured.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Aries said as she quickly left the room, causing Jamie to frown before she returned, “Could you give this to Nancy for me?” she asked, handing over a letter.

Jamie looked at it curiously, noticing the faint red hue coming from the envelope before nodding as he accepted it.

“It’s not a solution,” Aries said, seeing his expression, “Alzheimer’s isn’t something I would wish upon anyone, let alone someone I consider family but the letter might give you a few more lucid memories with your mother.”

Jamie’s eyebrows raised in surprise as he looked up from the letter.

“I would....I’d suggest getting her to open it while you are alone, however,” Aries added as an afterthought, “Otherwise there may be a lot of questions.”

“Thank you,” Jamie swallowed as he looked back at the letter before pocketing it away in his coat. He looked back to Aries and pulled her into a hug and caused her to stiffen in surprise, “Really, thank you Aunty.”

Aries’ expression softened at the title, having not heard it coming from Jamie in so long. She hugged him back, “You’re welcome, Jamie.”

\----

“Now, no telling your parents,” Aries said firmly as she handed over two ice-cream cones to the eager boys.

She shook her head as they cheered at each other and took the cones off her, only to almost end up wearing them. With a chuckle, the red head turned back to the shop owner who just raised an eyebrow at her.

“Aunt’s secret,” she tapped the side of her nose before she paid for the ice-cream, causing the man to laugh as they left.

“Can we go to the playground afterwards?” Luka asked as they left the shop.

“Yeah,” Mickey agreed as he tried to eat his ice-cream and hold onto Aries’ hand, only managing to wear more than what made it into his mouth, “I wanna play on the swing.”

“You’d need to finish them quickly, then,” Aries told them as they walked towards the playground near St Pauls Church, “Don’t want the other children knowing you had ice-cream, do you?”

Luka and Mickey exchanged looks of horror before trying to finish their ice-cream as quickly as possible and Aries was silently thankful that she had her magic as she noticed how much of a mess the pair had made on their suits.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of Aries’ neck raised and she felt a chill run down her spine and she stopped walking, her eyes narrowing as she looked around for whatever could have caused the sensation.

“Aunty, everything alright?” Luka questioned when he noticed Aries’ had stopped walking.

His voice snapped Aries from her thoughts and she managed a smile as she looked at the boys, whom where both watching her with similar expressions.

“Yeah,” she lied, raising an eyebrow at their clothes, “But you two aren’t. How is it supposed to be a secret ice-cream if you’re displaying it all over your clothes.”

The boys looked guiltily down at their clothes, noticing that she was right, but not a moment later, the mess was gone.

“What mess?” Mickey asked cheekily and Luka just grinned at Aries.

“Come on, you two,” Aries said with a fond shake of her head, “Otherwise there will be no time for the swing.”

That had the boys moving again, though Aries frowned and glanced behind them, feeling as though she was being watched.

\----

Aries watched on with a small smile as Mickey tried to catch Luka as the older boy ran around the playground.

“Luka, slow down!” the younger boy shouted as Luka managed to evade Mickey’s attempts of capturing him.

Someone sat down beside Aries and she looked to the newcomer.

“How do you make it seem so easy?” Odessa Smith asked with a tired sigh as she watched her four year old son enjoy himself with his best friend Luka.

Aries turned her gaze back to the boys, having to bite her tongue on what she really wanted to say to the other woman.

She had no idea why Odessa stayed with her husband when anyone could see that the woman was clearly unhappy. But Aries felt it wasn’t her place to tell another how to live their life and Odessa was old enough to make her own decisions. It wasn’t that the red head could really relate to what Mickey’s mother was going through, never having been in a relationship herself.

“It’s always simpler to believe that it looks easier for someone else,” Aries said instead, “Luka is quite a handful at times and is just as stubborn as his father. Add in his mother’s temper and it’s almost like an tornado had hit when he throws a tantrum.”

Odessa looked at Aries with a dubious expression and the red head sighed when she saw it. “But you make it look like you’ve been doing it for decades,” the woman stated, “Yet I don’t believe you have your own children.”

“No, I don’t,” Aries confirmed with a frown.

“Have you thought about having your own one day?” Odessa questioned curiously.

Aries snorted, unable to help herself. “I believe it takes two to tango,” she said, only for her face to warm at the memory of what she had said during the Blitz and she closed her eyes tightly, feeling as though she wanted to go back and kick her past self for her naivety as her embarrassment grew.

Taking her expression for something else entirely, Odessa smiled, “But you have your eye on someone?” she questioned.

Aries chocked on air, her eyes snapping open as she looked back to Odessa. “Wh-why would you think that?” she sputtered, feeling her cheeks grow even warmer and she didn’t need a mirror to know they were red.

“I can see it in your eyes,” the woman remarked as she looked back to the children, “The way you look at them. The longing that appears in your expression.”

“Oh, no, no, no,” Aries quickly said, “I’m quite happy to be an Aunt,” her expression turned a little sad, “And besides, I highly doubt there is anyone out there for me,” she added, having believed the moment she realised that she had stopped aging that she would be alone.

Sure, Aries had Jamie, Mary and Luka, but they were their own family and even if they were close now, one day they would either move on with their own lives, or die. And if the pain she was going through with losing Nancy was anything to learn from, Aries didn’t believe she wanted to experience the same thing with someone she actually loved.

Odessa quirked an eyebrow. “If you say so,” she remarked before getting up and headed towards her son. She paused and glanced back to Aries. “There’s somewhere out there for everyone, Eris. You just have to look,” she added before walking away.

Aries watched her go over to Mickey and Luka and begun pushing Mickey on the swing. The red head’s eyebrows furrowed as she absentmindedly ran a finger over the back of her hand, tracing the mark where the nanogenes had once affected her. A warmth grew in her stomach when she thought of the only person who had managed to turn her head, but she was quickly to shake herself from where her mind was going.

 _No,_ she scolded herself, _How many times have you done the exact same thing. Stop assuming that just because he was concerned that it meant something. Stop thinking it was something more._ Shoulders sagging, Aries looked up to the blue sky as she leaned back on her hands, unable to not feel saddened by the thought, _And besides, why would he stay here when he has all of time and space to travel,_ she finished, closing her eyes.

“Aunty Eris!” Luka screamed and Aries’ eyes snapped, only to quickly roll out of the way when she saw something diving towards her.

All her previous thoughts were gone as she got to her feet and sent a blast of red energy towards the creature as it shook itself off, but her magic didn’t seem to do anything but annoy it.

“Luka! Get Mickey to the church!” Aries shouted, realising that they were the only ones left in the playground and the older of the two wasted no time in doing just that as he dragged Mickey along, knowing that his Aunty would try and stop them.

She looked back to the creature and her eyes swirled red. Aries flung her hands forwards and a shield of red energy surrounded her as the creature tried to attack her again.

Not moments later, Aries’ eyes widened in surprise and alarm when a second creature appeared out of thin air and joined in with the first as they tried to get to her. She could hear the screams coming from the direction of the church and it only caused her to grow angry at the thought of these things harming anyone, but most of all Luka and Mickey.

With the thought of the two boys in danger, Aries’ magic seemed to strengthen as her protective fury grew and she sent the creatures flying as her shield blew outwards. She stood there, staring the creatures down as they were quick to recover. Her hair whipped around her as a breeze blew around her.

“You won’t have them,” she growled as the creatures launched themselves at her again.

There was a crack, and Aries was gone.

\----

“Luka, where’s Aunty?” Mickey asked in a terrified whisper as he looked around the church frantically, holding onto his friends hand tightly as the pair watched the adults scrambling around.

“She’ll be here soon,” Luka tried to comfort the younger boy, although he couldn’t help but worry about his Aunty after he had heard the screams coming from outside. Luka’s eyes flickered to the adults by the church entrance before back to the trembling Mickey and he swallowed. “You know that Aunty Eris can do anything,” he added quietly.

“But they took mummy,” Mickey exclaimed as tears filled his eyes, “What if they took Aunty as well?”

There was a crack behind the pair, making the boys jump and spin on the spot.

“They can try,” Aries said with a grin before letting out a huff of air when she had both Luka and Mickey hug her. “Hey, I’m fine. Everything will be fine,” she assured them, even though she had no idea what the creatures were or why they were here.

“They took my mummy,” Mickey sobbed as tears streamed down his face.

“Hey now, little Mouse,” Aries said as she managed to crouch down to be more at the boy’s level, “You remember that story I told you? The one about Luka’s daddy?” she asked quietly as she wiped away his tears.

Mickey sniffed and nodded as Luka spoke up, “You and Nana stopped the bad bugs, didn’t you.”

Aries couldn’t help but chuckle at what Luka referred to the nanogenes as. “No, that was your Nana that stopped them,” she reminded him, “But I-“

“They can’t get in,” a voice cut Aries off and she stood up, her eyes wide as she saw the Doctor at the now closed doors of the church, “Old windows and doors.”

“Aunty, what is it?” Luka asked, seeing her expression and looked to where Aries was looking.

“Luka, Mickey,” Aries said, causing the boys to look at her in confusion, hearing her tone, “I want you to stay right here. I need to speak with someone.”

“But you can’t go,” Mickey stated, grabbing Aries hand, “What if the monster’s come back?”

Aries knelt before the child as she removed one of her necklaces. “This will keep the monster’s away,” she told Mickey softly, glancing to Luka as she showed them the pendant, “The wolf is a mighty protector and wont let any harm come to those who carry this.”

“What about the snake and bird?” Luka asked curiously, never having heard his Aunty speak of her necklaces.

“The snake is the wolf’s friend and it helps the wolf protect their friends, just like the phoenix. When you carry this, nothing will be able to harm you,” she told the pair as she placed the pendant in the Mickey’s hand. Her eyes flashed as she did so, causing the pendant to glow red as Mickey held it and he looked to her with wide eyes.

“They like you,” she told the boy before she grasped his shoulder, “Now I want you to stay here with Luka, okay.”

Mickey nodded and Luka grabbed his empty hand, “I’ll watch him until you get back,” the older boy said, trying to seem brave and caused Aries to smile.

“I won’t be long,” she told them before she moved off towards the Doctor, who was currently having an argument with Jackie Tyler.

“....unless I sort this out. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve waited a long time to say this. Jackie Tyler, do as I say. Go and check the doors,” the Doctor ordered, and Aries raised an eyebrow as Jackie did just that. “Should have done that ages ago,” the Time Lord muttered as he turned around, only to stop short when he saw Aries.

“I’m kind of afraid to ask how you know Jackie Tyler,” the red head remarked, her eyebrows furrowing as once again the Doctor looked shocked to see her, “But after she had Rose, I think I worked out how.”

“Aries, what are you doing here?” the Doctor asked, his voice filled with concern and worry at the fact that his Nesdra was here and it caused his hearts to beat faster in his chest.

“I should be asking you that,” Aries replied with a frown, wondering what the Time Lord was doing there.

“Eris,” the groom, Stuart approached the pair, looking to Aries while the Doctor looked to his Nesdra in confusion, “My dad was out there.”

Aries was about to open her mouth to say something, but the Doctor spoke up, “You can mourn him later, right now we’ve got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive.”

“My dad had-“

“There’s nothing I can do for him,” the Doctor cut the man off, only for Aries to shoot him a look.

“What’s wrong, Stuart?” the red head asked, looking back to the distressed groom.

“He had this phone thing,” Stuart explained, showing them an old brick phone, “I can’t get it to work. I keep getting this voice....”

Aries frowned as she accepted the phone and dialled a number, only for her frown to deepen as she listened to the voice that came through.

_”Watson, come here, we need you. Watson, come here, we need you.”_

“But, that’s Alexander Bell,” she said as she handed the phone to the Doctor for him to listen as well.

“You’re right,” the Doctor stated, “That’s the very first phone call,” he handed the phone back to Stuart, “I don’t think the telephone’s gonna be much use,” he remarked as he glanced at Aries, his eyebrows creasing slightly before he shook his head and moved off.

“But someone must call the police!” Stuart called after him, causing the Doctor to pause.

“Police can’t help you now. No-one can,” the Doctor said, loud enough for the other guests to hear him and Aries couldn’t help but wonder what he was talking about. “Nothing in this Universe can harm those things. Time has been damaged and they’ve come to sterilise the wound,” the Doctor continued as he turned to look at his companion, his eyes narrowing slightly, “By consuming everything in sight.”

“Is this because....” Rose trailed off, her voice shaky.

Aries looked between the Doctor and Rose as the Time Lord just stared at his companion, not saying a word.

“Is this my fault?” the blonde continued, and Aries couldn’t help but wonder what she had done as the Doctor’s expression clearly said that it was her fault.

The Doctor walked passed Rose, though Aries was quick to follow, needing answers.


	11. You Did What?!

“Doctor,” Aries grabbed the Time Lords sleeve when they entered the outer room of the church, stopping him from walking off and he turned to her, “What’s going on? What are you doing here?” she questioned, trying out work out why he was here.

The Doctor glanced around before leading her over to a window as he tried to figure out how to tell her what had happened. He was still trying to work out what Aries’ was doing there, just having dropped her off....well, wherever the TARDIS had decided to take her, but he had rather hoped that after what Rose had done, his Nesdra would have been safe. “Something happened,” he said, and Aries just raised an eyebrow.

“I can clearly see that,” she stated, letting his arm go with a frown and stepped back when she suddenly felt the urge to grab his hand at the sight of his troubled expression. “I want to know what has happened, because I have my-“

“Eris,” Pete Tyler’s urgent voice cut her off and she turned to the man, missing the Doctor’s eyebrows furrow in confusion once again. “There’s smoke coming up from the city but no sirens,” the man continued as he reached them, “I, I don’t think it’s just us, I think there things are all over the place. Maybe the whole world.”

“Look, Pete. This isn’t the best time,” Aries told the man as she turned back to the Doctor, only to see the Time Lord looking out the window with an expression of dismay. Frowning, she followed his gaze and her eyebrows raised in alarm when a beige car appeared out of thin air, its tyres screeching. It turned a corner and the terrified driver threw a hand over his face as it disappeared.

“Was that a car?” Pete questioned when the same thing happened again.

“It’s not important,” the Doctor said after a moment and Aries glanced at him, finding that she didn’t believe him. “Don’t worry about it,” he told Pete as he grabbed Aries hand and they moved away from the man.

When they were far enough away, Aries pulled her hand from the Doctor’s. “I don’t know what’s going on, Doctor, but I don’t believe for a moment that a car that reappears and disappears in unimportant,” she told him in a harsh whisper, “Now, tell me. What is going on?”

The Doctor’s shoulders fell slightly, knowing that Aries wasn’t to stop until she figured out what had happened. He just hoped she wasn’t going to be too angry with him. The Time Lord couldn’t help but also feel a nagging familiarity with the name that the other humans kept on calling her. He just couldn’t remember why.

“Rose,” the Doctor sighed, “I did something I shouldn’t have and it went wrong,” he admitted, knowing he was just as in the wrong, if not more than his blonde companion.

Aries glanced towards the door that led to the main room of the church, watching Pete leave and caught a glimpse of the older blonde. Her eyes widened when she realised something, “You shouldn’t even be here,” she hissed turning back to the Doctor, “Rose should not be here. What were you thinking, bringing her to a place where there was already a version of herself here?”

“I was trying to do something nice, give her some closure,” the Doctor tried to explain, “I didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to do what she did.”

Eyes narrowing, Aries asked the Doctor to tell her exactly what had happened and the Time Lord did. When he had finished, the red head was shaking as her emotions got the better of her, unable to believe that the Doctor would have done something so idiotic as bringing his companion back not once, but twice to see her father die.

“Aries,” the Doctor said tentatively when he noticed a breeze start to pick up around his Nesdra, knowing from seeing it before that she was furious. He couldn’t blame her for feeling that way, knowing that he shouldn’t have done what he had in the first place.

“You....you complete idiot,” Aries exclaimed, slapping the Doctor’s hand away when he tried to comfort her and she took a step away from him, ignoring how his face fell at her actions, “What in Merlin’s name did you think she would do?! Give anyone the chance to see their father again and of course they’d want to try and do something!”

“Aries, please,” the Doctor tried as he took step towards her, “I didn’t think she’d do-“

“That’s your problem, Doctor. You didn’t think!” Aries shouted at him as she backed away, shaking her head, “You knew it was wrong and you still brought her back. What did she do? Bat her eyes with a puppy dog expression and you just couldn’t resist?” she spat, unable to stop the words from coming from her mouth as her anger grew.

“What? No!” the Time Lord exclaimed.

“Then what was it? Because I actually thought that you were someone I could trust!” Aries shook her head again, “But you’re just like everyone else.”

The Doctor froze at her words, feeling as though his hearts had been ripped from his chest. He didn’t even care as to where Aries was from in his timeline. All that was running through his mind was that she had trusted him.... _And I had to do something stupid and broke it,_ he thought angrily, wanting to kick himself for his stupidity.

Aries turned away from the Doctor, her thought’s going to Luka and Mickey as she tried to figure out if there was anyway to fix what the Doctor had done. She started heading back to the boys, only to be stopped when the Doctor grabbed her arm.

“Aries, wait,” he pleaded, needing to try and right the wrong he had caused.

The red head spun to face him, her eyes flashing red. “Don’t touch me!” she snapped and the Doctor was thrown backwards as her magic reacted to her will.

The Doctor was quick to scramble to his feet, but when his eyes landed where his Nesdra had been, Aries was already gone.

“Aries,” he breathed in dismay, never having wanted to hurt her.

His Nesdra was someone whom he had never wanted to hurt, never wanted to upset, and because of his companion, he had just done that. He knew it was a useless and a weak excuse to think that the only reason he had agreed to taking Rose to see her father was because it took his mind of the fact that Aries hadn’t agreed to travel with him.

But now....now he had no idea how to fix this.

\----

The Doctor walked around the church, checking any possible exits with his sonic as he tried to figure out not only how to fix the mess his companion had caused, but also how to fix the rift he could feel between himself and Aries.

He glanced towards his Nesdra when he noticed Jackie approach Aries and frowned as he noticed a small boy handing something to the red head, seeing something that looked vaguely familiar to the Time Lord before Aries smiled and nudged the boy towards Jackie. The older boy beside Aries asked her something and she nodded before accepting a baby from Jackie as the older boy followed after the younger.

His frown only deepened at their interaction, never having seen Aries so relaxed around anyone before he quickly looked back to the door he had been checking when Aries got up and glanced in his direction.

The Doctor wanted to apologise to her, tell her how wrong he had been, but even in the short time he had known Aries, the Time Lord knew that it was useless. He had come to realise quickly that, to Aries, actions spoke louder than words, of which she only took at face value. His hand tightened around his sonic, just as a voice cut through his thoughts.

“Excuse me! Mr....” Stuart asked as he and his fiancé approached the Doctor.

“Doctor,” the Time Lord replied as he moved off to the next door, not really wanting to talk with anyone. He had too much to do than wasting time talking with these humans.

“You seem to know what’s going on,” Stuart continued, having followed the man.

The Doctor didn’t look up from the lock he was scanning, “I give that impression, yeah,” he muttered.

Stuart glanced at Sarah when she nudged him and he frowned. “Eris said that you were the best person to ask, but-”

“Can you save us?” Sarah cut in, not having missed the way the Time Lord had stopped what ever he had been doing at the mention of the red head’s name.

The Doctor swallowed as he snuck a peek to where Aries had gone, his eyebrows furrowing as to why people kept on calling her Eris before turning to the engaged couple. “Who are you two, then?” he asked curiously, looking the two up and down.

“Stuart Hoskins,” the groom replied.

“Sarah Clarke.”

“And one extra,” the Doctor added, nodding to Sarah’s baby bump, “Boy or girl?”

Sarah ran her hand over her bump as she replied, “I don’t know. I don’t want to know, really.”

The Doctor eyed them for a moment. “How did all this get started?” he asked and Sarah glanced to her fiancé.

“Outside the Big Box Club. Two in the morning,” Stuart begun.

“Street corner,” Sarah added with a small smile, “I’d lost my purse. Didn’t have money for a taxi.”

“I took her home,” Stuart continued.

“Then what?” the Time Lord questioned, “Asked her for a date?”

“Wrote his number on the back of my hand,” Sarah told him and Stuart smiled as he added, “Never got rid of her since. My dad said....”

A reaper screeched outside and Stuart’s smile faulted as Sarah’s lip trembled as tears gathered in her eyes.

“I don’t know what this is all about. Eris wouldn’t tell us and I know we’re not important....” Sarah trailed off, looking down to her bump.

“Who said you’re not important?” the Doctor asked, genuinely shocked by her words and the soon-to-be bride looked back to him.

“I’ve travelled to all sorts of places. Done things you couldn’t even imagine, but....you two....street corner. Two in the morning. Getting a taxi home. I’ve never had a life like that,” he looked back in Aries’ direction, just as she turned away from them and back to the carrycot she was sitting beside. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have a life like that with his Nesdra.

Sarah and Stuart exchanged knowing glances before the Doctor looked back to them.

“Yes,” he said with a smile, “I’ll try and save you.”

\----

Aries looked up from baby Rose as the Reapers continued to slam against the walls and windows of the church, letting out loud screeches as they did so.

She was feeling much calmer after her fight with the Doctor, and although she was still angry with the Time Lord and Rose for what they had done, she couldn’t really fault them for it either. The red head knew that given the chance, she would have tried anything to save her father. _In fact, I did,_ Aries mused as her eyebrows creased, remembering how she had tried every spell she could think of to save Severus. That was until he had sent her away.

Baby Rose cooed in her arms and Aries shook her head, getting rid of where her thoughts were going. She looked down to the baby and couldn’t help but smile sadly, having learnt that Rose had never known her father.

 _At least I knew my father,_ the red head thought.

\----

_Rieka and Severus landed on the ground in a hidden grove just inside the Forbidden Forest._

_The red head quickly shifted back to her less feathered form and was grinning with delight as she watched her father follow not moment’s later. “That was amazing!” she exclaimed, hugging her father in her excitement._

_Severus stiffened at first, his eyes scanning the woods around them to make sure they were truly alone before he relaxed and hugged her back._

_Rieka took no notice, however. She knew the role he had to enforce, but she also knew that the grove had been warded against anyone from Hogwarts. The only humans who could enter it were herself, her father, Dumbledore, and Amelia. Amelia however, very rarely showed up and Dumbledore had ever appeared after he had warded the area._

_“Can we go again?” the red head asked, looking up to her father hopefully._

_Severus looked up to the sky, seeing the sun had almost disappeared into the horizon. As much as he wanted to spend more time with his daughter, he knew they had to head back. “I’m sorry, Rie, but we have to return. Curfew will begin shortly and you don’t want to end up with detention, do you?” he told her gently, holding her close a moment longer before pulling away._

_Rieka looked down sadly, but nodded her head. She knew he was right and knew how dangerous it would be if they were caught and Severus had only wanted to keep her safe._

_Severus smiled down at his daughter, “Come, I’ll take us back,” he said softly, holding out his hand._

_Rieka looked up to him and smiled as she grabbed it._

_They were gone with an almost silent crack._

\----

“Aries?” a voice broke the red head from her thoughts and she startled, waking the snoozing Rose in her arms.

She looked to the voice an realised it was the Doctor. “Oh, er, sorry,” she said as she dropped her hand from her necklace and tried to resettle Rose.

“Would you like some help?” the Time Lord asked hesitantly. Although he could see that something was on Aries’ mind, he couldn’t help but try and get back onto her good side. The last thing he had ever wanted to do was have her angry with him.

Aries glanced at the Doctor before nodding, passing him Rose who was quick to quieten in his arms. A small frown tugged at her lips as she looked away, her eyebrows creasing slightly. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, causing the Doctor’s head to snap in her direction.

“Why are you apologising?” he asked, “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I shouldn’t have shouted at you earlier,” Aries muttered, only to jump when the Doctor gently placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked to him in confusion.

“You had every right to,” he told her as he adjusted Rose in his other arm, “I shouldn’t have brought Rose here, let alone twice.”

“You didn’t know she would save Pete,” Aries shook her head when the Doctor went to say something else, “It doesn’t matter,” she told him and the Time Lord frowned.

“It matters to me,” the Doctor stressed, though his comment only caused Aries to grow confused again. The Doctor sighed as he carefully placed baby Rose back into the carrycot beside Aries before sitting next to his Nesdra. He hesitated before deciding against grabbing Aries’ hand and scratched the back of his neck as he tried to figure out how to say what he wanted to say.

He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when his companion approached them, sniffling and tearful.

“I’d better be careful,” Rose said, “I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken.”

Aries frowned at the blonde and was about to get up to check on Mickey and Luka, but her hand shot out and grabbed Rose’s wrist when she noticed the blonde reaching out to her younger self. “No,” she snapped, pushing Rose’s hand away, “Don’t touch the baby.”

“Why not?” Rose argued back, only to pause when the Reapers outside screeched loudly, almost as if they knew what had almost happened.

“You’re both the same person and that’s a paradox,” Aries explained, glancing to baby Rose to make sure she was still sleeping.

“Oh, and like I’d believe you,” Rose huffed, though her anger and jealously towards Aries only grew when the Doctor spoke, agreeing _once again_ with the red head.

“Rose, Aries’ is right. We don’t want a paradox happening. Not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. The paradox might let them in.”

“Can’t do anything right, can I?” the blonde grumbled.

“Since you asked,” the Doctor continued as though he was talking to a dimwit, causing Aries to raise an eyebrow as she watched the pair, “No. So, don’t. Touch. The. Baby.”

“I’m. Not. Stupid,” Rose replied, her eyes narrowing.

“You could’ve fooled me,” the Doctor was quick to snap back and Rose looked away from him, hurt.

“Doctor,” Aries spoke up as she glanced between the pair, “Rose didn’t know.” Rose looked to Aries in surprise as the red head continued, but the Doctor frowned and looked away, “Just as you didn’t know that she would save her father’s life. It doesn’t matter how this started, who’s at fault. What matters is how to fix it.”

The surprise that had been on Rose’s face was quickly replaced by jealousy when the Doctor sighed and glanced at Aries. She could see that the Time Lord was actually listening to the red head and couldn’t believe it when he nodded at Aries with a small smile when the red head grabbed his hand.

“But between you and me,” Aries added with a frown as she glanced at the doors of the church when another Reaper tried to force its way inside, “I have no idea what those creatures are, nor any idea on how to stop them.”

“No way out,” the Doctor muttered and Aries glanced at him, her eyebrows furrowing.

“You’ll think of something,” Rose told the Doctor quietly, only for the Time Lord to frown as he looked to her.

“The entire Earth is being sterilised. This, and other places like it, are all that’s left of the human race. We might hold out for a whole, but nothing can stop those creatures,” he said as his eyes followed the shadows circling the church, “They’ll get through in the end. The walls aren’t that old,” his hand tightened around Aries’ as he continued, feeling rather hopeless at fixing what he and Rose had done, “And there’s nothing I can do to stop them. There used to be laws stopping this kind of thing from happening, my people would have stopped this. But they’re all gone. And now I’m going the same way.”

Aries looked to the Doctor in surprise, wondering what he had meant by his people being gone as Rose spoke, “If I had realised.....”

The blonde trailed off when the Doctor looked at her, though he glanced at Aries when she pulled her hand from his, looking at him pointedly. He sighed as he turned back to his companion. “Just....tell me you’re sorry,” he said, knowing that Aries was right. Rose had no idea that in saving her father would have led to this and he was as much at fault as she was.

“I am. I’m sorry” Rose said sincerely, managing to keep her voice even. Inside however, she was miffed that Aries had once again convinced the Doctor to listen to her. A small voice in her head told the blonde that the Doctor probably wouldn’t have even asked if it hadn’t been for Aries, that he would have continued to blame her for what had happened, but she ignored it.

She knew that the Doctor wouldn’t have stayed angry with her. She was his companion. The one person who stayed with him, travelled with him. There was no way he would have left her behind.

The Doctor nodded at his companion, accepting her apology as Aries stood up with a soft smile as someone caught her eye. He glanced at his Nesdra, only for his eyebrows to raise when a small boy that looked about six suddenly rushed over to her.

“Aunty Eris!” Luka shouted as he hugged Aries, “Mickey told Auntie Jackie that he had ice-cream....” the little boy trailed off when he noticed the Doctor and his jaw dropped as his eyes went wide. “Is....is that the....?” he asked, looking back to Aries.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Aries as she nodded with a soft smile to Luka, once again surprised at how at ease she seemed to be around the boy. He didn’t have time to question what had changed for her to have become the woman he had met at Downing Street as he suddenly found Luka hugging him tightly.

“Thank you,” Luka said, confusing the Time Lord, “You helped save my da-“ he broke off with a yelp and Aries was quick to make sure he was okay as the boy let the Doctor go.

Rose rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t help but frown at the name that Luka had used. _Didn’t Mickey mention an Eris before?_ she asked herself, though she couldn’t remember, not really having listened to her boyfriend when he spoke about his own friends.

“What’s wrong, Luka?” Aries asked, kneeling in front of the boy as she checked him over.

“He’s got something hot, Aunty” Luka explained, looking to the Doctor.

“What do you mean?” she questioned, glancing at the Time Lord as he checked his pockets, only for her eyebrows to raise when he pulled out a glowing golden key before dropping it like it had burnt him.

“It’s the TARDIS key!” the Doctor exclaimed in delight as he quickly took off his jacket and used it to pick up the key, “It’s telling me it’s still connected to the TARDIS!”

“And what does that mean?” Aries asked as she straightened, holding Luka close to her side so he wouldn’t run off and get into mischief.

The Doctor just grinned before he dashed off.


	12. Eris

“Are you Aunty Eris’ friend?” Mickey asked a brunette woman who had been keeping him company after Jackie had stormed off.

“You could say that,” the woman replied as she looked to Aries and the Doctor, just as Luka reached them. A small, sad smile appeared on her face as Luka hugged Aries, though it was gone when Mickey spoke up again.

“Are you sad?” he asked, looking to the brunette with a worried expression.

“Why would I be sad?” she asked the boy.

“You look sad,” Mickey stated and the brunette chuckled, unable to help herself, though it only confused Mickey.

“You, Mickey Smith, are very observant,” the brunette told the boy as she ruffled his hair, a genuine smile on her face.

“What’s that?” Mickey asked, pointing to a mark on the brunettes forearm, “Is it a tattoo?”

The brunette raised an eyebrow at the boy, “And how do you know what a tattoo is?” she asked him.

“Aunty Eris has one on her arm, but hers is different,” Mickey informed her.

“Well, then. I guess you can call it a tattoo,” the brunette said as she ran a finger over the faded crystal-like mark on her forearm.

“The inside of my ship was thrown out of a wound but we can use this to bring it back. And once I’ve got my ship back, then I can mend everything,” the Doctor’s voice cut through the air and Mickey and the brunette looked to the man as he stood before the remaining guests. “Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?”

“Does that mean my mummy will come back?” Mickey asked, looking back to the brunette with wide, hopeful eyes.

“This one big enough?” Stuart asked the Doctor, showing the man his father’s phone.

The brunette nodded, “Your mother will be safe, I promise,” she told Mickey, though she barely glanced at the boy as she watched the Doctor rush forwards to Stuart as he exclaimed, “Fantastic.”

“How do you know?” Mickey asked curiously, his head tilting a little to the side as he watched the brunette.

The brunette managed to tear her gaze away from the Time Lord and back to Mickey as she smiled. “You know those stories your Aunty spoke of?” she asked the boy who was quick to nod, “Well, that man there,” she pointed to the Doctor, “Is the same one who saved Luka’s father and Nana.”

Mickey looked to the Doctor as the Time Lord was using his sonic to charge the battery from Stuart’s father’s phone. His eyebrows creased as he tried to understand what the brunette had said.

The brunette shook her head at the boy before pulling something out of her pocket. “Here, this is for you,” she said, holding a small, silver armband out to Mickey.

“What is it?” Mickey asked, looking back to the woman and the item she was holding.

“A token of friendship,” she told Mickey with a warm smile as the boy accepted the item. When Mickey had put the band on, the brunette stood up, “Now, why don’t we go and find Jackie, hmm?” she asked, holding her hand out to Mickey.

The boy nodded as he grabbed her hand, not even noticing the armband readjusting itself so it wouldn’t fall of.

\----

“Luka, I want you to wait here with Uncle Pete, okay,” Aries told the boy, glancing at Pete and smiling slightly as the man nodded, letting her know that he was fine with watching Luka.

“Okay, Aunty,” Luka replied before rushing around the pews to sit beside Pete.

When Aries was certain the boy wouldn’t follow, she moved off towards one of the windows of the church and looked outside, unable to quell the uneasy feeling that was slowly growing inside her as she watched the beige car continuously reappear and disappear.

Something was telling her that whatever the Doctor was planning to do with his ship was very risky, and although she really didn’t have a clue to exactly what the Doctor planned to do, a part of her was worried it wasn’t going to work.

Tearing her gaze away from the car as it disappeared once again, Aries looked to Pete, Rose and Luka as the two adults talked. She was never one to believe in a coincidence or chance and was starting to realise that maybe, and how wrong she hoped she was, that the only way to fix what had been done was to let what originally was supposed to happen....happen.

The red head knew the risks behind time travel, knowing how dangerous it would be to meet herself while she had been turning her days and had always been meticulous with using her time turner. But she had never experienced anything like this before. Even when Granger had saved not only Buckbeak’s life, but Sirius Black’s as well had not led to this and it made her wonder why. Why had Rose saving her father’s life caused such a mess?

Her gaze was drawn to the Doctor as he put the glowing key into nothing but thin air, her eyebrows raising in surprise when a blue police box started to materialise around it, the head of the key sticking out of the lock on the door. The Doctor pulled his jacket back on with a grin as he watched his ship slowly start to appear before he ran back up the steps to the pulpit.

“Right, no one touches that key,” he told everyone, “Have you got that? Don’t touch it. Anyone touches that key, it’ll be, well, zap. Just leave it be and everything will be fine. We’ll get out of here. All of us. Stuart, Sarah, you’re gonna get married, just like I said,” he finished, grinning encouragingly towards the couple.

Aries wanted to smile at the thought of having this mess all sorted out, but the sound of tyres screeching as the beige car once again disappeared around a corner had her frowning.

“Penny for your thoughts?” someone asked from behind Aries, causing the red head to turn on the spot, only to see a brunette standing there.

“Do I know you?” Aries questioned as she looked the woman up and down.

“No, I highly doubt so,” the brunette replied, clasping her hands behind her back, “But I know you, Rieka Lestari.”

Aries immediately stiffened at the name, her eyes narrowing on the brunette. “Who are you?” she demanded.

The brunette didn’t react to Aries’ question, and the red head took a step towards her.

“How do you know that name?” Aries hissed, her heart beating quickly in her chest as dread filled her. She had buried that name, her past the moment she realised where she was, but for this woman to know it, it had to be impossible.

The brunette still didn’t say anything, but instead, like a viper, one of her hands shot out and grasped the red heads hand and Aries gasped at the contact. The brunette leant forwards and whispered something into Aries’ ear, causing the red head’s eyes to go wide before they glazed over and the brunette let her hand go.

The moment she did so, Aries shook her head and frowned at the brunette, unsure what had happened. “Sorry, what did you say?” she asked, a little confused.

“I think the Doctor is looking for you,” the brunette replied, pointing to the Time Lord when he glanced in their direction.

“Oh,” Aries remarked, turning to look at the Doctor and finding him watching her. “Wait, I didn’t catch your....” she started to say, turning back to the brunette, but the woman was gone. “Name,” she finished lamely, wondering what had just happened.

Shaking her head, Aries turned back to the Doctor and headed towards him and the others, though she was still rather lost as to who the brunette was.

\----

The Doctor grinned at Aries as she approached, though he was curious to know who the brunette was that she had been speaking to. It seemed, to him at least, that most of the people here knew Aries, however he was still rather confused as to why they kept calling her Eris.

There was something about the name that was naggingly familiar to the Doctor, but he just couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. Anytime he tried to remember where he had heard the name before, it was as if his own mind refused to remember.

Aries paused in her approach, noticing the expressions that were on both Rose and Pete’s faces and wondered if the man knew about what had happened. “Luka,” she called, causing the boy to look at her before rushing to her when she motioned him over. “I want you to go make sure Mickey is okay,” she told him, glancing to the others, “And why don’t you make sure that he doesn’t tell everyone about your ice-cream,” she added.

Luka nodded eagerly before rushing off to find his friend and Aries sighed as she watched him go, wondering how she was going to explain all this to the boys parents. She really didn’t know how she would explain it to Jamie, feeling as though history was repeating itself.

Luka was only a few months older than Jamie had been when he had been affected by the nanogenes and she had tried her best to keep him and his family away from what was out there. But as the Reapers continued to try and find a weak point to enter the church, Aries couldn’t help but feel like she had failed them.

“So, you’re an aunty?” the Doctor’s voice broke Aries from her thoughts and she looked to him. The Doctor frowned, seeing Aries expression. “Is everything alright?” he asked her, glancing the way Luka had gone and wondered what was troubling her.

“Yeah,” Aries sighed before shaking her head, “No....I don’t know,” she muttered as she ran a hand tiredly over her face.

The Doctor’s frown only deepened at the movement, remembering her doing the same thing in Downing Street and knew that something was deeply troubling her. But the Time Lord also understood that it was better to let Aries tell him when she was ready instead of trying to question her about it.

It was hard for him sometimes, wanting to know more about his Nesdra, to question her until she finally gave him answers, but he wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t. There was something about Aries that reminded the Doctor of himself, something he saw every time he looked into her eyes.

“Come on,” the Time Lord said quietly, placing a hand on Aries’ lower back and leading her over to the pews.

Aries didn’t say anything as she sat down, though the troubled look didn’t leave her face. She couldn’t help but wonder if her having stayed in Jamie and his families life had been such a good idea as her gaze wandered around the church, seeing the scared wedding guests as the Reapers continued to try and make their way inside.

“When time gets sorted out....” Rose’s voice cut through Aries’ musings and the red head glanced behind her and towards the woman who was sitting beside Pete.

“Everyone forgets what happened,” the Doctor said, tearing his gaze away from Aries, “And don’t worry, the thing you changed will stay changed,” he added, causing Aries to look at him in both alarm and confusion.

“You mean I’ll still be alive,” Pete stated, having realised what the Doctor and Rose had not been telling him. When Rose just stared at him, not saying anything, he nodded slightly, “Though I’m meant to be dead. That’s why I haven’t done anything with my life. Why I didn’t mean anything.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” the Doctor stated.

“Rubbish,” Pete scoffed, “I’m so useless I couldn’t even die properly. Now it’s my fault all of this has happened.”

Rose grasped her fathers arm and Aries looked away with a frown as the blonde told Pete, “This is my fault.” Aries couldn’t help but think it was Rose’s fault for what had happened, but she understood the younger woman’s desire to have wanted to see her father again. Aries would have given anything to have seen her father once more, but knew that it was both impossible and highly dangerous.

“No, love,” Pete shook his head, “I’m your dad. It’s my job for it to be my fault,” he told her.

“Her dad?” Jackie said, appearing beside them with baby Rose in her arms, “How are you her dad? How old were you, twelve?” she asked, disgusted at the thought.

Aries stood up, the Doctor standing up with her having no desire to hear Jackie arguing with her husband.

“Oh, that’s disgusting,” Jackie continued as she glared at Pete.

Pete also stood, “Jacks, listen. This is Rose,” he said, trying to get his wife to see the truth in his words.

It had the opposite effect however as Jackie spoke, her voice both angry and upset, though Aries was quiet glad she kept her voice low, knowing that the older blonde had a set of lungs. “Rose? How sick is that? You give my daughter a second hand name? How many are there? Do you call them all Rose?”

“Oh, for God’s sake, look!” Pete exclaimed as he grabbed baby Rose from Jackie, “It’s the same Rose!” he continued.

Aries eyes widened and the Doctor took a step towards them when Pete placed the baby in her older self’s arms.

“Rose! No!” the Doctor shouted, but it was too late and as he took the baby from Rose’s arms and gave her back to Jackie, a Reaper appeared in the middle of the church.

The guests screamed and leapt to their feet as the Doctor grabbed Aries hand as he shouted, “Everyone! Behind me!” He tried to get Aries to move behind him and with the guests that had gathered there, but the red head didn’t move as she stared at the Reaper, her eyes narrowing.

“I’m the oldest thing here,” the Doctor declared, taking a step towards the Reaper as it chirped menacingly and spread its wings.

“Hey!” someone shouted from behind the Doctor, though the Time Lord took no notice as he stared down the creature.

The Reaper dived towards the Doctor and Aries. Rose shouted the Time Lord’s name, only for it to seem as time stopped when the Reaper stopped its attack, almost as if it was frozen in mid-air.

“I told you that you won’t have them,” Aries voice cut through the stunned silence as she stepped towards the Reaper, her eyes swirling red as her magic crackled around her, whipping up a breeze.

“Move it!” someone snapped.

The Reaper tried to move, to do anything to get to the red head, but found it couldn’t move and it screeched angrily.

“I don’t care who you are or where you come from,” Aries continued as she took another step forwards, “But you won’t harm another person here.”

“Ari....” the Doctor trailed off when something flashed across his mind and his eyes widened. “Eris,” the Doctor breathed as a memory that had once been lost to him returned. How could he had forgotten that she had saved his life? Better yet, how did Aries take that memory from him?

Suddenly he was pulled back away from Aries and stumbled, just managing to see the brunette who had been talking with Aries earlier rush towards his Nesdra before everything went dark as she pulled something from her coat.

The Doctor gasped, feeling the air in his lungs being ripped from him as the room was doused in darkness and it felt as though there was hurricane blowing through the church. Moments later however, there was a flash of gold and blue energy before the light started to return, though the Doctor’s eyes only widened when he saw the brunette in front of Aries. Red tendrils of energy lined her skin and her eyes the blackest black he had ever seen as she stood before what looked to be a gold and black vortex of some kind.

“I’m sorry,” the brunette told Aries, her black gaze meeting Aries red before just like earlier, her hand shot out and latched onto Aries’ arm.

“No!” the Doctor shouted, seeing the tendrils of energy start to be transferred from the brunette to his Nesdra and he tried to take a step forwards, but once again found he couldn’t move. “Aries!” he shouted, but his Nesdra didn’t even seem to hear him.

He watched on hopelessly as Aries glanced at the brunette before stepping through the vortex that closed the moment she did so.

“Eris!” the Doctor heard Luka shout from somewhere behind him, but he didn’t take his eyes off the brunette as she turned to look at him.

“What did you do?!” he demanded, wanting to know what the woman had done to his Nesdra, “Where is she?”

The brunette’s eyes softened as the red tendrils faded from her skin, her black eyes returning to their much warmer brown. “You know where she went, Doctor,” she told him before she disappeared when the Reaper reached her, the spell holding it back having been broken the moment Aries had stepped through the vortex.

“No!” the Doctor shouted once again as the only person who knew what had happened to Aries disappeared before his eyes. He barely even noticed when the Reaper collided with his ship, causing them both to vanish and the once glowing key fell to the floor as he stared helplessly at the spot that his Nesdra had once been.


	13. Dalek

When Aries stepped through the other side of the vortex, she blinked in confusion when she found herself in a corridor.

She turned around to figure out where she had come from, only to her eyebrows to fly upwards as the vortex started to close and she reached towards it, only to stumble back in alarm when she noticed her arm was covered in red tendrils of energy.

“What the....?” she muttered, watching as they disappeared before her eyes.

When they had faded, Aries looked back to where the vortex was, only to find it was also gone and a frown formed on her lips, wondering what had just happened. It should have frightened and alarmed the red head about finding herself wherever she found herself, but as Aries glanced around, she was hit with an odd feeling. It was as if Aries knew that this was where she needed to be, but she just couldn’t remember why.

_“....did you make it?”_

Aries’ eyebrows furrowed when she heard a muffled voice and she looked around again, trying to figure out where it was coming from and spotted a phone. She picked it up and held it to her ear, only to quickly pull it away when someone shouted through it.

_“Rose, where are you?!”_

“Doctor?” Aries asked, recognising his voice and wondered what was going on.

\----

The Doctor froze in horror, feeling as though he had been doused with cold water at the sound of his Nesdra’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“Aries?” his voice was barely heard as he prayed to whatever deities out there that who he had just heard was not Aries. It couldn’t be her. There was no possible way that his Nesdra was here. But when she replied, the Doctor sank back into the chair he had jumped out of not moments earlier, feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of him.

_“Doctor, what’s going on?”_

\----

“Doctor?” Aries repeated when she didn’t get a response. Her eyebrows furrowed, thinking that something was wrong when the Time Lord stayed silent. “Doct....”

She didn’t get a chance to ask him what was going on as her answer came around the corner in the form of a Dalek.

“Impossible,” Aries breathed, her eyes wide as a Dalek stopped a few metres in front of her, its eyestalk moving up and down as it looked at her.

 _“Aries,”_ the Time Lords voice finally came through the phone, but Aries was barely listening to him as she stared at the alien, unable to tear her gaze away from it, _“Where are you? Aries?!”_

“Doctor,” Aries said quietly as she took a slow step away from the Dalek, freezing when the alien twitched at the Time Lords name, “There’s a Dalek here,” she told him, trying to keep her voice level as one of the most deadliest aliens she had ever read about continued to stare at her, unmoving.

 _“Aries, get out of there!”_ the Doctor shouted, causing the red head to wince at his pitch and she quickly spared a glance behind her, finding some sort of closed bulkhead there before looking back to the Dalek when she heard it move.

She could apparate, but without knowing exactly where she was, that idea was quickly disregarded.

“You will cease communications or be exterminated,” the Dalek stated, its voice sending shivers down her spine.

“Doctor?” Aries took another step away from the Dalek, though she stiffened when her back hit the bulkhead door.

 _“Ari-”_ the Doctor was cut off when the Dalek suddenly screeched, “Exterminate!” and fired at the red head, though she was quick to throw up a shield and apparated to the one place she could think of.

\----

“Aries!” the Doctor shouted, only to realise that the line had gone dead and he ripped the earpiece from his ear.

There was a stunned silence in Van Statten’s office before it was broken by the Doctor. “I killed her,” he breathed, the earpiece slipping from his hand. His face was twisted in horror at the thought of having lost Aries, his Nesdra, his soulmate to his worst enemy.

“I’m sorry,” Van Statten said, though his expression was confused, rather unsure as to who the Time Lord had been talking to.

The Doctor spun to the man, his horror being replaced by fury at the thought that the man. No, the stupid _ape_ had stopped him from killing the Dalek when he had had the chance.

“You’re sorry?” he spat, causing Van Statten’s eyes to grow wide at the sudden shift in the Time Lord’s emotions, “I could’ve killed that Dalek in its cell, but _you_ stopped me,” the Doctor took a step towards Van Statten, his fists clenched at his side, shaking, “Now the _one_ person that meant _everything_ to me....my Nesdra is dead because of you!”

“It was the prize of my collection!” Van Statten exclaimed, only to find himself shoved up against the wall behind him when the Doctor grabbed him by the throat.

“Doctor!” Goddard called out in surprise, though the Doctor took no notice of her, his eyes locked onto the ape in his grip.

“Your collection?!” the Time Lord snarled, the Oncoming Storm having been released at the apes audacity at thinking his _collection_ was worth more than Aries. Worth more than the one person he had never thought he would ever get to meet after what he had done. “You collection is nothing compared to all those men’s deaths. And....” his hand tightened around Van Statten’s throat, causing the man to gasp for breath, his hands clawing at the Time Lords as he tried to get the Doctor to release him, “It is nothing.... _nothing_ compared to Aries.”

The lift doors opened and Rose and Adam stepped out, only to freeze at the sight of the enraged Time Lord holding Van Statten against the wall by his throat.

“Doctor!” Rose exclaimed as she tried to rush over to the pair, but Adam stopped her. “Let me go!” she snapped at the young man before turning back to the Doctor, “Doctor, let him go!”

\----

When Aries reappeared, she was now behind the Dalek. She glanced at the phone in her hand, frowning at the fact that it had been destroyed by her hasty apparation, knowing that she now had no way to communicate with the Doctor.

The Dalek must have sensed her as it was quick to turn and face her, and Aries straightened, dropping the ruined phone in the process. If it was going to try and kill her again, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

She was confused however, when the Dalek just watched her, not even making an attempt to kill her.

“What do you want?” Aries asked, but was only met with silence, “How are you even here?” she continued, growing equally confused and alarmed as the seconds ticked by. From what she had read of Daleks, and there had been quite a bit she had found in the books left for her, they were known as a species that had no qualms about wiping anyone whom they found to be impure. Which was everyone that wasn’t a Dalek.

“You are not of this world,” the Dalek stated, causing Aries to stiffen.

“Neither are you,” she replied bluntly, not wanting to show how much just standing in front of the alien was affecting her. It was hard, but Aries dug deep, using every lesson her father had taught her to bury her emotions.

“Why haven’t you killed me?” she asked after another few moments of silence from the alien, understandably confused as to why the Dalek hadn’t.

“I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose,” the Dalek screeched.

“I know,” Aries said flatly, though her eyebrows were creased slightly, “So what are you waiting for? What’s stopping you from killing me?”

“I felt her fear,” the Dalek replied, causing her eyebrows to crease further and a small frown to appear on her face as it sounded....scared.

The red head wasn’t certain, but from what she had read about Daleks, they didn’t feel anything but hatred and anger. _So, why is this one afraid?_ she asked herself.

Aloud, she asked, “Who's fear?”

“Rose Tyler,” the Dalek stated, “I fed off her DNA, extrapolating the biomass of the time traveller to survive. But Daleks do not fear. Must not fear.”

Aries didn’t have a chance to say anything as she threw up a shield when the Dalek fired its laser wildly, though none of the shots came even close to hitting the red head.

“She gave me life,” the Daleks voice grew slightly hysterical as it continued, “What else has she given me? I am contaminated!”

\----

“Doctor,” Rose managed to get out of Adam’s hold and rushed over to the Time Lord. She hesitated, seeing the look on the Doctor’s face before placing her hand on the arm that was holding Van Statten, gently pressing down as she tried to get him to release the man. “Doctor, it’s fine. I’m fine,” she told him, “I got away.”

The Time Lord didn’t even acknowledge her as he glared hatefully at Van Statten as the man continued to struggle in his hold. It would be so easy to just squeeze, to get rid of the ape that thought that his Nesdra was nothing compared to his collection.

 _But,_ a small voice whispered in his mind, causing him to pause, _What would Aries think?_

He could see it in his mind, the expression that was on his Nesdra’s face as she hesitated at telling Mickey how to kill the Slitheen. The way her determined gaze met his when she realised his plan to blow up Downing Street. She was willing to sacrifice herself, just as much as he was willing to sacrifice himself, if it meant that they could stop the threat of another World War.

 _No,_ he told himself, his grip loosening around Van Statten’s throat, _She wouldn’t want this._

The Doctor let the man go and stepped away, his face twisting in disgust as Van Statten dropped to the floor, gasping for breath as he rubbed his throat. He looked at the man for a moment longer before turning and walking away, deciding on focussing his anger towards the one who had taken his Nesdra from him.

Aries may be dead, but there was still a Dalek alive and there was no way in this universe that the Doctor was going to let it leave this museum alive.

Rose glanced at Van Statten before turning to follow the Doctor, silently wondering what had happened since she had lost her phone. Something caught her eye and she paused. “Doctor,” she said as she stepped towards the screen, seeing the Dalek on it along with....

The blonde scowled, unable to help herself when she noticed Aries standing beside the Dalek, wondering how the hell the red head could have been there. It was bad enough that the woman seemed to know the Doctor, but the moment the Time Lord had met her, it was as if Rose hadn’t even existed.

The Doctor turned to see what his companion wanted, only to notice the screen as well.

 _“Open the bulkhead, or the hybrid dies,”_ the Dalek stated, confusing everyone in the office, as well as Aries herself.

The Doctor however? He took no notice as he took a few step towards the screen, his eyes on Aries as relief and joy spread through him.

“You’re alive,” he breathed, taking another step closer to the screen. He didn’t see Rose’s scowl, though if he did, the Doctor probably wouldn’t have even cared. Aries, his Nesdra, was alive and that was all that mattered to him.

 _“Can’t get rid of me that easily,”_ Aries replied, her lip twitching upwards somewhat, though her gaze flickered to the Dalek beside her. She was still rather uncertain as to what the Dalek wanted and felt as though she was in uncharted territory after its outburst about being contaminated.

“I thought you were dead,” the Doctor replied, causing Aries to look back to him when she heard his tone.

 _“Open the bulkhead!”_ the Dalek exclaimed, cutting off anything Aries was going to say.

 _“Doctor, don’t,”_ Aries quickly interjected, _“You open that bulkhead and there’s no telling what the mutating Dalek would do.”_

The Doctor paused at her words as his gaze went to the Dalek. He wasn’t too sure as to what Aries had meant about the Dalek mutati....Oh. His eyes widened minutely, realising that the Dalek may have picked up more from Rose than even it had anticipated. But that also meant it was possibly even more dangerous than it was before.

 _“What use are emotions if you will not save the hybrid you care about?”_ the Dalek asked, and this time the Doctor did take notice of what the Dalek had called Aries, though he didn’t let his curiosity and surprise appear on his face.

It was the second time he had heard that Aries wasn’t fully human and although he wanted to know what the Slitheen and the Dalek had meant, now was not the time to think on it. The Daleks words had also confirmed what Aries had hinted at, telling him that it had been affected more by absorbing his companions DNA to heal itself.

The Time Lord glanced at Van Statten, internally rolling his eyes when he noticed Rose scowling before looking back to the screen. Aries was standing there silently as she wondered what he would do while the Dalek was waiting for his response.

The Doctor frowned, feeling torn. If he let the Dalek out, there was no telling if it would kill Aries the moment it was free. And even with her odd abilities, he highly doubted she would survive another confrontation with the alien. But, if he didn’t, he could lose her anyway.

It was his hearts that made the choice for him and he looked to Aries with an expression the red head wasn’t to sure what to make of, willing her to understand his decision. “I’m sorry,” he said before moving to the computer. He looked back to the screen, only to see Aries’ eyes widen when she realised what he was going to do and her mouth opened to say something. The Time Lord was quick to continue, cutting her off. “I can’t lose you,” he told her, causing Aries’ mouth to snap closed, her eyebrows creasing in confusion.

The red head didn’t have any time to think over his words though, as the Doctor hit the return key and the bulkhead started to rise. She gave the Doctor one last look before she walked through the now opened corridor, the Dalek close behind her.

The Doctor dropped his gaze from the screen, hoping he had made the right decision, though he knew that there was no way he was going to leave his Nesdra locked in the vault with a Dalek, even if it was changing.

Rose was glaring at the screen. She had no idea why the Doctor had let the Dalek go free. She would have been quite happy to leave it trapped in the Vault with Aries. She just wished the red head would leave her and the Doctor alone.

“What do we do now? You bleeding heart, what the hell do we do?” Van Statten questioned, his voice a little scratchy though desperate as he looked to the Doctor.

The Time Lord levelled a hard gaze at the man that had Van Statten taking a wary step away from him. “We kill it when it gets here,” he stated coldly.

His words caused Rose to tear her eyes away from the screen and she looked to him, rather startled at what he had said. Except for the time when he had let Cassandra die, the Doctor had seemed to be the last person who wanted to kill anyone. And although she knew a little about the Time War, the blonde was getting the feeling that it wasn’t only the Dalek being alive that had him acting this way.

“All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault,” Goddard spoke up, having stayed silent since the Doctor had shoved her boss against the wall. Though she thought Van Statten had deserved what he had gotten, she could see that whoever the red head was, the Doctor felt very deeply for her.

Adam cleared his throat, causing the others to glance at him. “Only the catalogued ones,” he informed them and Van Statten raised an eyebrow, to which he returned with an apologetic expression.

\----

Adam had taken the Doctor and Rose to his workshop and the Time Lord was going through a basket of the young man’s un-catalogued weapons.

Rose watched the Doctor, a small frown on her face. She had wanted to ask the Doctor why he had attacked Van Statten, but had thought better of it. The Doctor didn’t seem like he would have told her anyway, having not really said a word after opening the bulkhead and she was still confused and jealous of what the Doctor had said earlier.

“Broken,” the Doctor’s voice cut through her musings as he tossed a weapon aside before pulling out another. “Broken,” he repeated, doing the same thing as the first before taking out another. “Hairdryer,” he commented with a roll of his eyes. That one joined the others on the bench.

“Mister Van Statten tends to dispose of the staff,” Adam explained. Rose glanced at him, but the Doctor continued on in his search, ignoring the young man. “And when he does, he wipes their memory. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day.”

The Time Lord scoffed, looking over his shoulder at the man, “What, you in a fight? I’d like to see that.”

“I could do,” Adam was quick to reply, a little offended by the Time Lord’s words.

The Doctor rolled his eyes again, going back to searching for a weapon that was suitable for taking the Dalek down. “What’re you gonna do, throw your A-levels at ‘em?” he asked sarcastically before his eyes fell upon a weapon that was exactly what he was looking for. “Oh, yes,” he said, pulling out a large gun and causing Rose’s eyes to widen, “Lock and load.”

\----

Aries and the Dalek were in the lift heading up to Van Statten’s office. The atmosphere, for Aries at least, was very tense.

The red head glanced at the Dalek when she noticed its laser arm twitch and she couldn’t help but wonder if it could feel the tension as well. For her, it was thick enough to cut with a knife.

“What do you plan to do when you get up there?” she asked after a moment, only to duck out of the way when the Dalek’s eyepiece spun around to look at her.

“I....do not know,” it replied, causing Aries’ eyebrows to furrow as once again the alien was showing another emotion. Confusion.

“Well, I hope you don’t plan on killing them,” the red head stated, “Because for whatever reason, you didn’t kill me.”

“But why not?” the Dalek asked, its voice raising a few octaves, “Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?”

Aries frowned when she felt a small twinge of sympathy for the alien. The Dalek may be one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe, but a small part of her felt sorry for it. Sure, it may have used Rose to heal itself, it may have even killed people, but so had Aries. She wasn’t innocent when it came to taking a life and although their circumstances may have been different, the red head could understand that it was frightened and confused.

It hadn’t known that in absorbing Rose’s DNA, it would be absorbing so much more than just energy to regenerate itself. The Dalek had no idea what to think, or even do about the emotions that it was now feeling. But Aries also knew that she would have to tread carefully. This Dalek was becoming something new, unknown and she didn’t know if that made it more dangerous.

“I don’t know,” she said truthfully.

\----

When the lift doors opened, Aries noticed that the room was empty, save for two people she didn’t recognise. She mildly wondered where the Doctor was, but movement had her pushing that thought away.

“Don’t move!” she was quick to order, “Don’t do anything. Just stay put.”

The Dalek advanced on Van Statten and Aries watched it closely, though she stayed beside the lift. She knew if she had to, she would take both her and the Dalek back to the vault if it even thought of harming another, though she was uncertain if the alien would even survive the trip if she did so.

“Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?” the Dalek asked and Aries’ eyes flew to the man.

“You did what?!” she questioned in disbelief, but no one seemed to take any notice as Van Statten was slowly backing away from the Dalek, terrified.

“I wanted to help you, I just....” the man tried to explain his actions, “I don’t know, I, I was just trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you....I wanted you better, I’m sorry,” he continued pitifully as the Dalek still advanced, causing Van Statten to back into the wall behind him. “I’m so sorry!” the man continued, his voice coming out as a shrill, “I swear! I just wanted you to talk!”

“Then hear me talk now,” the Dalek said, “Exterminate! Exterminate!” it shouted, causing Van Statten to wince, “Exterminat-“

“No,” Aries said quietly, startling the Dalek when she stepped up beside it and placed a hand on its outer shell. She took a step away when the Dalek turned to her and looked directly into its eyepiece as she continued, almost as if she was seeing the alien that was inside.

“You don’t have to do this anymore,” she continued when it stayed silent, watching her. Aries was quite surprised that it did actually seem to be listening to her and it made her wonder why. “There must be something else you want. Not just killing and rage. Has anyone ever asked what you want?” she asked.

The Dalek turned back to Van Statten, causing Aries to stiffen slightly, unsure what it would do. But it didn’t do anything before looking back to her.

“I want freedom.”

\----

Unknown to Aries and the Dalek, the Doctor was running up the stairs with the alien gun held tightly in his hands, Rose trying to keep up as she followed.

He had no idea what the Dalek was doing and every second that it was alone with his Nesdra was a second too long.

He couldn’t help the thought that continuously swirled through his mind, _What if it decided to kill her?_ and his grip on the weapon tightened as he ran even faster.

“Doctor! Wait up!” Rose called, sounding out of breath, but the Time Lord continued as if he had never heard her.

\----

When the Dalek and Aries reached Floor One, the red head followed it out of the lift, silently thinking if this had been such a good idea.

She had no idea what the Dalek was planning on doing, nor even how to stop it. As she followed it out of the lift and into a corridor, the only thing that Aries could think of was that she really couldn’t let it leave wherever she had found herself. Even if it was changing, the Dalek was still a Dalek and she would not be responsible for it getting loose and killing anyone.

The Dalek fired it laser at the ceiling and Aries tensed, ready to take it, and herself, back to the vault. But when the Dalek just stood there, sunlight bathing both her and the Dalek in light, she found herself again surprised and confused about what its intentions were.

The red head looked up to the hole, seeing the blue sky outside. She looked to the Dalek as she raised one of her hands, seeing the sunlight hit it. “Have you ever felt sunlight?” she questioned, trying to keep it occupied until she could figure out what to do, or for the Doctor to show up. She hoped that he had an idea on what to do with a mutating Dalek.

The Dalek didn’t respond, but before the red heads astonished eyes, it opened up its casing to reveal its mutated body inside. It, like Aries had done, raised its feelers into the sunlight, feeling the warmth upon them.

Aries continued to watch it, rather shocked by what she was seeing until a voice behind her had her spinning on the spot.

“Get out of the way.”

“Doctor?” the red head asked, surprised for an entirely different reason as she saw the Time Lord hold a very large gun that was aimed in her direction....or more specifically, the Dalek behind her.

“Aries, get out of the way, now!” the Doctor continued when she didn’t move.

There was a flicker of confusion that passed over Aries’ face, wondering how someone she had known to save an entire hospital, possibly the world could want to kill someone before realisation set in. Rose had told her that they had met her before. Well, not specifically told her, but Aries could hear what the blonde hadn’t said.

“Doctor, what are you doing?!” Rose shouted as she appeared from the stairwell, still out of breath. She couldn’t help but wonder who he was aiming the gun at, though she really didn’t care.

“That thing killed hundreds of people,” the Time Lord continued, trying to get Aries to understand why he had to do this. Why he couldn’t let it live.

Aries looked back to the Dalek, a little surprised though she really shouldn’t have been. When she looked back to the Doctor, she shook her head. “And yet, you’re the one pointing a gun at me,” she replied, her eyebrows creasing slightly.

“I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to end it,” the Doctor stressed, his grip on the gun tightening, his knuckles turning white, “The Daleks destroyed my home, my people,” a brief flicker of shock and surprise appeared on Aries’ face before it was gone, being replaced by something else, “I’ve got nothing left.”

Rose was glaring at Aries, wondering why she was defending the Dalek. It had killed almost everyone in this museum, but the red head was acting like it didn’t deserve to die. The blonde had seemed to ‘accidently’ forget that it was her that had released it in the first place.

“Look at it,” Aries said softly, stepping aside and revealed the Dalek as it continued to feel the sunlight.

The Doctor looked decisively confused as he watched the mutant. “What’s it doing?” he asked, looking back to Aries.

Aries took a few steps towards the Doctor, though she kept an ear on the Dalek in-case it tried anything as she spoke, “Enjoying the sunlight.”

“But it can’t....” the Time Lord trailed off, his voice shaking. The Dalek couldn’t be enjoying the sunlight. It just couldn’t.

Seeing the hold on his gun slacken a little, Aries continued to approach the Doctor as she continued, “It didn’t kill Van Statten. It didn’t kill me,” she placed a hand on the top of the gun, pushing it down slightly, “It’s changing, Doctor. Into what, I don’t know, but it’s changing nonetheless,” Aries paused as she let her hand fall from the gun, “But what about you?” she asked.

The Doctor lowered the gun, looking at Aries completely lost. “i couldn’t....” he trailed off and Aries’ expression softened, “I wasn’t....” he looked to the Dalek that had turned to face them before back to Aries, “Oh, Aries. They’re all dead.”

“Why do we survive?” the Dalek asked, causing Aries to turn back to it.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor replied as he shifted the hold on the gun and Rose scowled when the Doctor grabbed Aries hand with his now free one, causing the red head to startle slightly and glance back to him.

How the red head had gotten the Doctor to listen to her, even to the point of deciding not to kill the alien was beyond Rose and it was starting to irk her as to how everyone she had seen Aries talk with always seemed to listen. It was even to the point that both Harriet Jones and Indra had ignored * _her*_ in favour of Aries, listening to her ordering them, as well as the Doctor about like she was someone important.

“I am the last of the Daleks,” the alien stated, though they could all hear the strain that had appeared in its voice, almost as if it took a great effort to get the words out.

“You’re not even that,” Aries told the Dalek, “Rose did more than regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA. You’re mutating.”

“Into what?” the Dalek asked.

The Doctor glanced at Aries as he spoke, “Something new. I’m sorry.”

“Isn’t that better?” Rose piped up, causing the others to look to her and her scowl deepened when it seemed like they had forgotten she was even there.

“Not for a Dalek,” Aries explained, looking back to the alien. Though her eyes held no pity for the creature, she did understand why it was scared.

“I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness....” the Dalek looked at Aries, “Give me orders! Order me to die.”

Aries’ eyes widened in shock at what it wanted her to do and shook her head. “I....I can’t do that,” she said, taking a step away from the Dalek.

Her words only seemed to enrage the Dalek as it screeched, “This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like _*you*_ ” it almost spat the last word, “Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!”

Aries expression was conflicted as she stared at the Dalek, though when she felt the Doctor’s hand tighten around hers, she sighed, her shoulders dropping. She knew it was the right thing to do. The Dalek was begging for its death and as much as she did not want to say the words, she did anyways.

“Do it.”

“Are you frightened?” the Dalek asked Aries and she nodded her head, unable to say anything less her words betray her feelings. “So am I,” it said, unknown to the rest if it actually believed her.

“Exterminate,” the Dalek said as replaced its shell before levitating into the air. The golden knobs that lined the bottom half of it shell detached and surrounded the Dalek, making a perfect sphere and it glowed briefly before exploding inside, vanishing into nothing.

The Doctor and Aries stared where the Dalek had been, stunned. Neither could believe what had just happened. Rose wasn’t looking at where they were. She, instead was staring at the Doctor and Aries, her eyes narrowing when the Doctor let Aries hand go and wrapped an arm around the red head’s shoulders.


	14. Something Unexpected

The Doctor, Rose and Aries walked silently back towards the Exhibit Room where the Time Lord’s TARDIS was waiting. The Doctor still had his arm around Aries’ shoulders and the red head could feel the glare coming from Rose, though she took no notice.

She was still a little shocked at what the Dalek had done, along with learning that the Doctor was the last of his kind, whatever it was. Although she could relate to the Doctor a little in that regard, Aries couldn’t help but think that it explained why he had been so excited when he had stopped the nanogenes and saved everyone.

If he had lost his planet and people to the Daleks, she could understand his desire to try and save anyone he could. It had been the reason behind why Aries had been working in the hospital in the first place, having, by that point, lived through two wars. Having the foreknowledge of history, knowing what happened before it did was pointless if you didn’t try and do something, and although she made sure she didn’t do too much, knowing that changing anything significant would be disastrous, Aries found she also couldn’t just sit on the sidelines.

And she could admit that it explained why the Doctor had brought Rose back to see her father not once, but twice. The Doctor would have, more than anyone, understood the need, the desire to see a loved one again and having the ability to travel in time. It just made doing so possible.

“A little piece of home,” the Doctor said sadly as he removed his arm from around Aries and stepped towards the TARDIS. He patted the side of the ship, successfully breaking Aries from her thoughts, “Better than nothing.”

Aries’ looked away from the Doctor and towards the blue police box, recognising it as the same box that had started materializing in the church as she tried to ignore how the Doctor’s warmth had disappeared the moment he had let her go.

“Is that the end of it? The Time War?” Rose asked, rather glad the Doctor had let Aries go. She didn’t know how much longer she could have stood by silently, seeing his arm around the red head.

“I’m the only one left,” the Doctor replied, trying to sound unaffected, but both women could tell that he was, “I win. How about that.”

“I....” Aries swallowed as she hesitantly grabbed the Doctor’s hand, trying to offer some sort of comfort as she spoke, “I didn’t know. I’m sorry,” she said quietly, suddenly thinking that if she had known, she wouldn’t have given the Dalek a chance.

“The Dalek survived,” Rose spoke up a little louder than necessary when she saw the Doctor intertwine his fingers around Aries’, causing both to glance at her, “Maybe some of your people did too.”

The Doctor shook hid head, “I’d know. In here,” he tapped his temple, causing Aries’ eyebrows to raise in surprise, “Feels like there’s no one.”

“Well then, good thing I’m not going anywhere,” Rose said with a grin, knowing that she wouldn’t disappear on the Doctor like Aries had. It fell not a moment later when she realised that the Doctor wasn’t even listening to her as he had refocused back on Aries.

“Do you-”

“We’d better get out,” Adam said as he jogged up to the trio, unknowingly cutting off whatever the Doctor had been about to ask Aries. “Van Statten disappeared....they’re closing down the base.”

The Doctor turned to the young man with a glare, not having liked the interruption.

Adam however continued on, oblivious to what he had done, “Goddard says they’re going to fill it full of cement! Like it never existed!”

“About time,” Rose muttered, having a feeling that the Doctor had been about to ask Aries if she wanted to join them.

“I have to go back home,” Adam stated.

“Better hurry up then,” the Doctor retorted with a roll of his eyes as he let Aries’ hand go and wrapped his arm back around her shoulders, “Next flight to Heathrow leaves at fifteen hundred hours.”

Rose glanced at Adam before looking to the Doctor, ignoring Aries as an idea came to her. “Adam was saying that all his life he’s wanted to see the stars....” she hinted.

“Tell him to go and stand outside, then,” the Doctor replied bluntly, his arm tightening around Aries, causing her to glace at him.

She wasn’t too sure how to feel by the Doctor’s arm around her. And although it felt nice, almost natural, it was also a little confusing. What confused her the most however, was that Doctor’s scent. Aries hadn’t really noticed it before, but there was something almost....familiar about it. She just couldn’t put her finger on why.

“He’s all on his own, Doctor,” Rose continued to try and sway the Time Lord. She hoped if Adam came along with them, the Doctor would get jealous. “And he did help,” she added, seeing the Doctor’s expression hadn’t changed.

“Wait, did you say Heathrow?” Aries suddenly cut in, her eyebrows furrowing and Rose glared at her. Adam just looked baffled by the red heads sudden question and the Doctor looked to his Nesdra, a little confused himself. Seeing his confusion, Aries asked, “Where exactly are we?”

“You don’t know?” the Doctor replied with his own question, though something occurred to him as he looked, really looked at his Nesdra. She didn’t look much different than when he had last seen her, but her hair was a little shorter and the Doctor should have slapped himself for not having realised sooner, but he also couldn’t feel the same _connection_ he had after their bond had started to form. It was as if the woman beside him hadn’t formed it yet, but that should have been impossible.

“How do you not know where you are?” Rose asked with a laugh, her tone sarcastic as she continued, “What, did you appear out of thin air?”

Aries just raised an eyebrow at her, “No. Actually, it was a vortex,” she said, her expression and tone serious and it caused Rose to pause.

“You can’t be serious?” Rose asked as she stared at Aries, not believing her.

“What type of vortex?” the Doctor questioned curiously. It did seem a bit out there, but it did explain how she had ended up in a sealed vault, forty-six levels below the surface and also in two thousand and twelve, if what he was thinking was correct.

“I’m not certain,” Aries replied, looking back to the Doctor.

“What are you guys talking about?” Adam cut in as he looked between them like they were crazy, “We’ve got to leave!”

The Doctor spoke as if he hadn’t heard the man. “What did it look like?” he asked Aries as he let his arm drop from around her so he could unlock his ship. He may not like Adam, but the young man had a point. And _if_ Aries had come from a time before they had met, before he realised who she was to him, it gave him the perfect opportunity to show her the TARDIS.

Aries’ eyebrows creased as she watched the Doctor pull out a key and unlock the box, trying to once again ignore how she felt by the loss of his touch. “It was black and gold,” she explained, “Well, more black than gold and it also felt as though....”

Rose watched Aries disappear inside the TARDIS after the Doctor had gestured the red head to go first before he followed after her. She glanced at Adam before throwing up her hands with a huff and followed after the Time Lord as she called out his name.

“What are you doing?” Adam exclaimed as he watched Rose also disappear inside, “She said ‘cement’. She wasn’t joking, we’re going to get sealed in. “Rose? Doctor?” Adam called, sounding genuinely concerned, “What’re you doing standing inside a box?” he asked before he tried to look inside.

The TARDIS had another idea, however and the door slammed shut on Adam’s face and the engine’s started up.

He stumbled backwards and watched on as the TARDIS dematerialised before his very eyes.

\----

“....as though the wind had been knocked from me whe....” Aries trailed off as she took notice of the inside of the TARDIS, seeing that it was surprisingly much more spacious as to how she imagined it after seeing the police box starting to materialise in the church.

Sure she had seen things that were, unknowingly to muggles, bigger on the inside. Even her pockets were impossibly bigger. But as Aries ran her hand over the railing, feeling that it was warm at her touch, she also knew that what she was standing in should have been impossible. There wasn’t a trace of magic that went into the workings behind the Doctor’s ship and Aries was both awed and curious as to just how the ship was made.

The Doctor smiled as he stopped to watch Aries, hearing a welcoming hum in the air as she slowly approached the console. “She’s called the TARDIS,” he explained quietly, enjoying how her eyes were filled with amazement, wonder, and curiosity, “Stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.”

Aries turned to the Doctor with a small smile as her hand rand along the edge of the console. “She’s beautiful,” she said, earning herself a warm hum as a slight breeze ruffled her hair. Her eyes widened in surprise at the reaction to her words. “Oh, that....that’s not possible. Is she sentient?” she asked as she eyed the Doctor.

His Nesdra’s expression was of both wonder and caution and it made the Doctor pause. Before he could say anything however, Rose’s voice cut through the air as she stormed into the TARDIS and he rolled his eyes as he turned towards her.

“Doctor! What are you doing?” the blonde demanded, shooting Aries a glare as she continued, “You say that Adam should go stand outside, and then allow _her_ to come along?”

Sighing, Aries looked away from the Doctor and Rose as her hand ran over the side of the console. She had no idea why Rose had always disliked her and it wasn’t as if she was going to apologise for doing something that she either hadn’t done yet, or whether or not Rose had actually deserved whatever Aries had supposedly done in the first place.

Aside from that, the red head wasn’t even too sure if she should travel with the pair. Firstly, she had no idea as to what had happened to Luka and Mickey after she had stepped through the vortex....well, she believed she had stepped through it. And secondly, Aries wasn’t even sure where the Doctor and Rose appeared in her timeline and really didn’t want to run into herself.

It had been made clear to her that the Doctor and Rose had run into her on more than one occasion and although they had never mentioned Adam before, for all Aries knew, this was _their_ future. She had no idea if where they went next was somewhere she had been, and after what had happened at the church, Aries really wasn’t interested in a repeated performance....as it were.

The red head was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t see the golden wisps of energy that appeared around her hands as they rested atop the console. Nor did she notice that her silver-grey eyes had turned golden and it wasn’t until a voice spoke up behind her did Aries realise something was amiss.

_“Ly, dear. Come have some lunch,”_ a female’s voice called and Aries turned, just in time to see what looked to be a young girl run past, though she looked to be made up of thousands of golden particles.

Her golden eyes widened a moment later when a voice she recognised spoke and the room shimmered and changed, golden particles floating past faster than her eyes could see before Aries found herself standing inside her father’s classroom. 

_“You must learn to control your mind. If you cannot do that, there is nothing more for me to teach you,”_ Severus said to a young Rieka and Aries realised it was their first Occlumency lesson.

The scene changed again and everything went dark for a moment and Aries heart stopped when she realised where she was and looked up, seeing a full moon glowing golden in a night sky. Her head snapped to the side and she took a step back when Lupin appeared from the darkness. “Professor?” she questioned at the same time her younger self said the same thing.

_“Strolls around the grounds when a full moon is out seems a bit foolish to me,”_ Lupin said and Aries stumbled backwards when his form started to change, only to run into someone and spun on the spot.

“Chestnut,” Aries breathed in relief when she recognised the Centaur filly she had bumped into, though the Centaur didn’t respond as she ran past Aries and headed towards where Rieka was standing, giggling and laughing as she was surrounded by other foals. Severus stood just to the side, watching silently over Rieka and the foals as they nickered and tried to drag Aries’ younger self away to show her something.

Suddenly an adult Centaur entered the vision and Aries couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Magorian, her heartrate slowly evening out to something more normal.

_“We can not give a name to one who already has been named, Lestari,”_ the elder Centaur stated, _”Nightshade, I would have believed you already knew this,”_ Magorian added, glancing at Aries’ father.

Particles flew past her, changing the scene once again and Aries gasped, her eyes going wide when she came face to face with Severus.

_“These blocks may seem unnecessary now,”_ Severus said as his fingers hovered above Aries temples and she swallowed heavily, _“But you must understand that I do this for your own protection.”_

_”I love you too,”_ Aries heard her own voice whisper around her as the golden particles shifted and changed again.

“No,” the red head breathed in both fear and alarm when the Shrieking Shack started to appear around her, bathing her in a dim golden light. She shook her head and dropped to her knees, her eyes clenched shut as she tried to think of anywhere else as she heard Harry Potter shouting that he and the other two thirds of the ‘Golden Trio’ needed to leave. “Please,” she begged, not wanting to relive what was to happen next.

“Just stop it!” she shouted, her eyes snapping open and a wave of magic erupted from within her in an attempt to get the visions to stop.

_”At the Snake’s setting sun, the Wolf will be reborn,”_ was the last thing she heard before everything went dark.

\----

Down one of the many corridors of the TARDIS a door shimmered into view.

\----

“Aries?” a voice called and the red head opened her eyes when she felt a hand resting on her cheek, blinking a few times to clear her vision and was confused when she found herself looking at the concerned face of the Doctor.

The Doctor was frozen to the spot when he saw the flicker of gold pass over Aries’ eyes and his hearts quickened their pace as he realised what had happened. It should have been impossible, but he had seen it with his own eyes and it caused the Doctor’s thoughts to swirl at the meaning behind what the gol-.

“Wh-what happened?” Aries cut through his stunned thoughts, frowning a little when she found herself resting against the console and the Doctor’s hand dropped from her cheek as he moved back to give her a little room.

“You fainted,” Rose said with a snort and Aries’ eyebrows creased, knowing she hadn’t fainted. Something else had happened, but she had no idea as to what that was exactly.

“Rose, enough,” the Doctor snapped as he shot his companion a disapproving look. Rose only rolled her eyes with a huff and looked away. The Doctor turned his attention back to Aries as she tried to get up and he was quick to assist her. “Easy,” he muttered when she swayed a little on her feet.

“Sorry,” Aries muttered as she ran a hand over her face, trying to get her thoughts straight, “I don’t know what happened.”

“Are you okay?” the Doctor asked her in concern, “I can take you to the med bay if you’re not feeling well.”

“No, it’s fine,” Aries waved him off.

“Aries, you fainted wi-” the Time Lord begun, though he stopped when Rose scoffed and he shot her a look.

“Where’s Adam?” Aries asked when she didn’t see the younger man and successfully changed the subject. Although she still wasn’t sure as to what exactly had happened when she ‘fainted’, Aries needed time and a quiet place to even trying to think over what had occurred and getting into an argument was not going to help her in any way.

“He’s not here,” Rose replied angrily, crossing her arms against her chest.

“I can see that,” Aries muttered under her breath, causing the Doctor to hold back a grin.

“I don’t think my ship liked him,” he explained with a shrug, knowing that it was not only his ship that hadn’t liked the younger man. There had been a small part of the Doctor that had actually considered allowing Adam to join them, if only to keep Rose distracted and away from Aries and himself, but the Time Lord didn’t trust the younger man around his Nesdra.

Aries glanced to the console, her eyebrows creasing slightly before they raised in realisation having figured out what could have happened to her. _But why would she show me old memories?_ she asked herself. The red head felt as though she should feel a little more alarmed at the fact that the Doctor’s TARDIS could create a mental connection with someone, but Aries' confusion as to why the ship had done so with her to only show her old memories caused her alarm to take a backseat.

“So where are we going now? Are we dropping _her_ off at home?” Rose asked with a nod in Aries’ direction, not having liked how the TARDIS had left Adam behind. And she knew it had been the Doctor’s ship and not the Time Lord himself that had left him behind since the Doctor hadn’t been anywhere near the console when the TARDIS had suddenly taken off the moment Aries fainted.

The Doctor’s head snapped to his Nesdra as a small spark of fear appeared in his gut at the thought of her leaving. Especially after she had fainted. It was not something that he had really experienced with a former companion. Although as he stepped up towards the console to check the scanner, the Time Lord knew that there was a bit more to do with what had happened to Aries.

Every Time Lord knew that a TARDIS only had one pilot. But in exceedingly rare occasions, the Doctor also knew that ones Nesdra could also form a sort of bond with their ship. But it didn’t explain why Aries had fainted.

He shook his head and glanced at Aries again, rather afraid to ask her if she wanted to go home. He knew that Aries was from a time before Downing Street, though he still had no idea as to what the vortex was that she had passed through to end up in the vault, and understood that it meant she couldn’t stay with them.

_But, is there any harm in asking?_ he thought, _Even if it is just one trip._

“You can’t be serious?!” Rose exclaimed when she noticed the Doctor’s expression and causing both Aries and the Time Lord to look at her.

“What?” Aries asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked between the Doctor and Rose.

“Rose,” the Time Lord warned, but she wasn’t listening.

“No!” she snapped, “Ever since you have bloody met _her_ ,” she jabbed her finger at Aries who just raised an eyebrow, “It’s like no one else exists. You don’t even know h-“

“Enough!” Aries shouted as she rubbed her temple, causing both the Doctor and Rose to turn their attention the her. “I can clearly see that me being here is causing problems,” she said with a frown, “Maybe it would be best if I le-"

Before she could even finish the word, the TARDIS lurched, throwing the trio off their feet.

The Doctor was quick to scramble to his feet, trying to work out what his ship was doing as she flew herself through the vortex.

“Doctor, what are you doing?!” Rose shouted as she managed to get to her feet, scowling darking when she spotted Aries getting up off the floor as well.

“I’m not doing anything,” the Time Lord snapped at her with a glare.

Aries held onto the console, her eyebrows furrowed as she watched the Doctor try and get some sort of control back. Something caught her attention on the console, though she ignored it in favour of staying on her feet when the ship jerked again.

The Doctor was growing more frustrated by the second as he dashed around the console, almost losing his balance if it hadn’t been for Aries grabbing his arm to steady him. “Thanks,” he said before moving off, flipping switches and pressing buttons.

Aries was about to reply when her gaze was once again drawn to something on the console and she felt a warm hum in her mind, causing her to frown, her eyebrows creasing.

“Doctor!” she heard Rose shout, but the blondes voice sounded muffled, far away as she continued to stare at the lever.

Without thinking, Aries reached forwards and pulled the lever, causing the TARDIS to stop suddenly, almost throwing her off her feet.

“What the hell was that?” Rose huffed as she pulled herself off the ground again, not having been as lucky as Aries or the Doctor.

The Doctor frowned as he looked to the time rotor before glancing at Aries, seeing her frowning at a lever she was still holding and a small grin appeared on his face. “That was the TARDIS letting us know her thoughts.”

Aries turned to look at him, “What do you mean?” she asked, rather confused as to what exactly had just happened.

The Doctor’s grin grew as he replied, “I don’t think she wants you to leave.”

The TARDIS gave a warm hum, as if agreeing with the Doctor's words.

Rose just glared daggers at Aries as she looked back to the console, her hand slipping from the lever.

“I don’t think-"

The lights flashed quickly, causing Aries to stop and look at the Doctor in confusion. She wasn’t sure as what to make of his ships thoughts, but she also knew she couldn’t stay. Luka and Mickey were, as far as she knew, at the church with those Reapers and she had been gone lone enough as it was.

“One trip,” the Doctor said, moving slowly around the console and closer to Aries, ignoring Rose's angry expression, “Anywhere in time and space. What do you think? Afterwards, I can take you back to where you were before.”

Aries’ eyebrows creased, still uncertain. It was tempting to take the Doctor up on his offer, but if she did agree, that would mean that to drop her back off....

“Can you drop me off somewhere else?” she asked, causing the Doctor to grow confused, “Afterwards, I mean?”

It was the TARDIS who gave her an answer with another flash of the lights and the Doctor grinned.


	15. The Long Game

** Satellite Five: Floor 500 **

The Editor entered the spike room, frowning.

He had no idea why his master wanted him to get information from the man laying in the seat before him, but he could admit that the man was a curious case.

The Editor could get information from anyone on the satellite, or the Earth below, but this man was different. Anything the Editor tried resulted in the same thing, nothing.

There wasn’t a titbit of information he had pulled from the man, not even his name or where he had come from and the Editor knew his masters were getting frustrated with the results.

“Are you going to give me anything useful today?” he asked.

Black eyes bore into the Editor and he sighed.

“I guess we’ll do this the hard way....again,” the Editor said before clicking his fingers.

A blue stream of light hit the mans now open forehead and he writhed and jerked on the chair, though not a sound passed his lips.

“Who are you?!” the Editor demanded.

\----

** Floor 139 **

It was only minutes later when the TARDIS materialized and Aries and the Doctor stepped out of the door, Rose following silently after them, still fuming over the Doctor's decision.

“So, where are we?” Aries asked as she looked around, raising an eyebrow when she noticed multiple screens broadcasting what looked to be some kind of news.

“It’s the year 200,000 and we’re on a spaceship....no, wait a minute, space station,” the Doctor explained as he lent against his ship, watching Aries, waiting.

“200,000,” Aries breathed in awe, “This....this is impossible,” she said, looking back to the Doctor, who was now grinning.

Rose muttered something under her breath, though the pair took no notice.

The Doctor pushed himself off the side of his ship and gestured to a gate behind Aries. “Why don’t you check out the gate,” he told her.

Aries looked at the gate then back to the Doctor. “Can I? I mean it won’t....” she trailed off, feeling a little foolish.

It hardly seemed like the Doctor would have taken her somewhere dangerous, but the warnings about time travel that had been drilled into her from her father were circling her mind.

“You’ll be fine, I promise,” he said, nodding to the gate again and he felt as though the wind had been knocked from him when Aries smiled, truly smiled at him before heading off toward the gate.

“So, why are we here?” Rose asked grumpily as she followed after the Doctor, wondering why he had brought them to somewhere that looked rather boring. _Seriously, if I wanted to watch the news, I could have done that at home,_ she thought.

“Why not,” the Doctor shrugged as he passed through the gate that led to an observation deck, grinning when he noticed Aries staring transfixed at the view of the Earth below.

Aries didn’t look away from the view as the Doctor and Rose stepped up beside her.

“The fourth great and bountiful human empire,” the Doctor started to explain, glancing at Aries, “And there it is. Planet Earth at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety-six billion. The hub of the galactic domain, stretching across a million planets, a million species – with mankind right in the middle.”

“Its amazing,” Aries breathed, and this time Rose had nothing to say, awestruck herself.

The Doctor looked back to the view, not having looked away from Aries as he spoke and grinned. “It’s something,” he agreed.

\----

“Oh, come on, Aries,” the Doctor whined as they walked down a corridor, his arm draped around the red heads shoulders, “You’re gonna love this fantastic period of history.”

“I don’t know, Doctor,” she replied with a slight frown as something niggled at her, something unknown but wrong.

Rose just rolled her eyes as she followed, wondering if it would have been better to have stayed in the TARDIS since the Doctor had just seemed to have forgotten she was even there.

“The human race at its most intelligent – culture, art, politics,” the Doctor continued, “This era has got fine food, good manners-"

“Out of the way!” a man cut him off as he pushed passed them, causing Aries to stumble into the Doctor, who glared after the man.

“You okay?” he asked as the whole floor seemed to spring to life around them with food stalls being set up and people bustled past the trio to queue up.

“Yeah, fine,” Aries muttered, glancing around at all the activity warily. She couldn’t say what it was, but something was wrong with what she was seeing.

“Fine cuisine?” Rose scoffed as she looked at the food in the stalls.

“My watch must be wrong,” the Doctor muttered, sounding a little wrong-footed and Aries glanced at him as he looked to his watch, “No, it’s fine....weird.”

“That’s what comes of showing off,” Rose said teasingly as she grinned at him, “Your history’s not as good as you thought it was.”

“My history’s perfect,” the Time Lord shot back, offended.

“Well, obviously not....” Rose continued wryly, rolling her eyes.

Aries looked around, trying to figure out why she was getting the feeling that something was wrong. It took her a moment to see, but when she did, the red head wanted to hit herself.

“The Doctor's right,” she said, looking to the pair, wanting to roll her eyes when she noticed Rose glaring at her. “He said this was the height of the human empire. Millions of planets, millions of species....” she looked back to the hustle and bustle around them, “But where are they?”

The Doctor and Rose looked around, finally seeing what Aries had pointed out.

“Oh,” Rose breathed.

“That’s a good question,” the Doctor remarked, glancing back to Aries, “A _very_ good question.”

The red head glanced around, blushing slightly when the different scents of food made her stomach remind her she hadn’t eaten since breakfast before taking Luka and Mickey to the park.

“Hungry?” the Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, causing Aries’ cheeks to darken. “When did you last eat?” he asked, wanting to hit himself for not asking sooner.

He still had no idea where Aries had appeared from in Van Statten’s museum and hadn’t even considered that she may not have eaten before then.

“A little,” the red head admitted, “It has been a rather....eventful day,” she continued, thinking back on what had happened since she had woken up that day.

The Doctor just grinned and turned to the closest chef. “Oi, mate, how much is a cronk burger?” he asked.

“Two credits twenty, sweetheart,” the chef told him, “Now join the queue.”

“Money,” the Doctor muttered, “We need money.”

“You don’t carry any?” Aries asked curiously, although she really didn’t think she wanted a cronk burger, whatever that was. It wasn’t that she was picky with what she ate, but the red head wasn’t fond of takeaway.

“Nope,” the Doctor replied with a grin, “We need a cash point,” he explained, leading the pair over to a machine.

He waved his sonic at it and Aries' eyebrow raised when a metal strip that she guessed to be some kind of futuristic credit card was dispensed.

“There you are,” he said, handing the strip to Aries, “Pocket money. Don’t spend it all on sweets.”

Aries’ eyebrows furrowed as she accepted it and looked it over. “How does it work?” she asked curiously, not seeing any sign as to how to use it.

The Doctor grinned, “Why don’t you find out,” he told her, only to earn a raised eyebrow in response. “Think of it as visiting Paris,” he tried to explain, “You can’t just read the guide book, you’ve got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing strangers.”

Rose laughed, although Aries’ other eyebrow joined the first and the Doctor was quick to amend what he had said, realising how it had sounded.

“Not that I actually do that, kissing strangers, that is,” he told Aries. _Well, not anymore,_ he added mentally, knowing that after finding out who Aries was to him, there was only one person he wanted to kiss.

“And what about that tree on Platform One?” Rose couldn’t help but question, remembering the way he had flirted shamelessly with Jabe.

“I didn’t kiss her,” the Doctor was quick to correct, causing Rose to just raise an eyebrow while Aries' creased in confusion. “Now, stop asking questions,” he said, shooting Rose a look before turning to Aries, “Go get something to eat. I’ll meet you back here in say,” he glanced at his watch again, “Thirty minutes?”

Aries didn’t say anything, just nodded and the Doctor grinned. She turned to look at the stalls, wondering what she wanted to eat before something caught her eye and she moved off.

The Doctor's grin faded as she left and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

“Oh, I know that look,” Rose said, glad that the red head had gone, “Trouble?” she asked.

The Doctor didn’t say anything to her, though he stopped two people as they passed.

“Erm....this is gonna sound daft, but can you tell me where I am?” he asked the pair.

\----

Back up on Floor 500, the Editor was watching two screens.

One had an image of Aries as she wondered around, while the other was showing Rose and the Doctor as they talked with Cathica and Suki.

“Something....is wrong,” he muttered, “Something fictional.”

He bent over the shoulder of the man seated in front of one of the screens, though he was covered in ice. He pointed to the monitor that showed the Doctor and Rose with the others.

“Those people. Security check. Go deep,” he ordered before there was a growl from above him and he paused to listen.

“Yes, of course,” he agreed, “Send those images to the spike room,” he added, “Let’s see what our mystery friend thinks of these people,” he muttered as the frozen worker did as instructed.

\----

In the spike room, the man gasped as images of the Doctor, Rose and Aries was shown to him and he gritted his teeth, trying not to give anything away.

\----

Aries nibbled on the strange fruit she had brought, finding it to taste somewhere between a pineapple and a raspberry. It was an odd combination, but considering the ‘fine cuisine' she had seen, it seemed to be the safest option.

She frowned, tugging off her jacket as the temperature seemed to get warmer the longer she was there and briefly wondered if it was possible to tuck it inside itself, before draping it over her shoulder.

There was still something that seemed off about the station, but no matter how hard she tried to pinpoint what it was, the answer evaded her.

 _Aries?_ a distorted, broken voice whispered in her mind, causing her to jump, almost dropping the fruit she was holding.

“What?” she exclaimed, her eyes darting around the floor, trying to locate the source, but an alarm sounded and everyone started to disperse, making it impossible for her to see where the voice could have come from.

“Aries, over here!” the Doctor's voice called and she noticed he was standing with two others besides Rose and wondered what he was doing.

“Something wrong?” she asked when she reached the small group, frowning at Cathica and Suki.

“Nah,” the Doctor grinned, “But I knew you’d want to see this,” he told her as they headed towards a spike room.

\----

 _‘Security check cleared,’_ the computer told the Editor, who frowned.

“No, something’s wrong. I can taste it,” he said, “Tiny little shift in the information. Someone down there shouldn’t be here.”

The camera refocused on the Doctor, Rose, Cathica, Suki, and Aries and the Editor's frown deepened.

“Double check. Triple check. Follow them,” he ordered as he left, wanting to see if there was any progress with showing the images to the unknown male.

He had felt something the moment the images had been sent to the spike room, but other than that, there had been nothing.

 _But there had been something,_ he thought, knowing that was better than nothing.

Now all he had to do was figure out what that something was.

\----

The small group entered the spike room and Aries raised an eyebrow when they were joined by several others.

Her gaze took the room in and her interest was perked as the others took their places around a raised octagonal platform in the middle of the room, each one sitting cross-legged before some odd shaped pads that looked to be where they would place their hands.

“What is this place?” she couldn’t help but question, only to be shushed by Rose as Cathica made her way to the central chair.

“Now. Everybody behave,” the woman addressed the group around her, “We have a management inspection,” she looked to the Doctor, “How do you want it? By the book?”

“Oh, right from scratch, thanks,” the Time Lord replied and Cathica nodded and turned back to the group.

“Why does she think you’re management?” Aries whispered as Cathica continued speaking.

“Psychic paper,” the Doctor whispered back, pulling out the small wallet and showed it to Aries.

Before she could say anything about not being able to read what it said, Cathica regained their attention and the Doctor put the paper away.

“....with a ‘C', in case you want to write to Floor 500 praising me, and please....do....”

The Doctor just grinned at the woman, giving her a non-committal jerk of his head in response while Aries was confused, wondering what was so important about Floor 500.

“Now, please feel free to ask any questions,” Cathica continued, “The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and be non-biased. That’s company policy,” she explained, smiling at the Doctor.

“Actually....it’s the law,” Suki, the other woman whom had been with the Doctor and Rose spoke up, though Aries frowned at her when she also smiled at the Doctor.

“Yes, thank you, Suki,” Cathica said, rather irritated by the woman’s interruption, “Okay, keep it calm....don’t show off for the guests,” Aries raised an eyebrow, glancing at the Doctor and Rose, the former shrugging, “Here we go,” Cathica laid down on the chair, “And....engage safety....”

The staff around Cathica placed their hands out over the pads before them, confirming to Aries that was what they were for, though the red head watched curiously as each of the eight walls behind them lit up as they did so.

The moment Cathica clicked her fingers, Aries gasped when a door in her forehead opened, revealing the woman’s brain. The red head glanced at the others, seeing that the Doctor looked mildly disgusted while Rose looked alarmed.

The staff placed their hands down onto the pads and closed there eyes.

“And three....two....and, spike,” Cathica said, just before a blue light shot down into her brain, flowing into her.

Aries eyebrows creased, trying to work out what she was seeing, never having seen or read anything like this before.

“Compressed information, streaming into her,” the Doctor explained, seeing his companions expressions, “Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer.”

“If it all goes through her, she must be a genius,” Rose remarked in awe as she stared at Cathica.

“Nah,” the Doctor denied, “She wouldn’t remember any. There’s too much, her head would blow up.”

“So, it’s like a processor?” Aries asked as they started walking around the room, “Her brain, I mean. And as soon as that, er....doorway closes, she would forget,” she continued.

Sure, she was interested in what she was seeing, but it nauseated her to think that people were so willing to allow anyone inside their mind. Even knowing that the Doctor and his ship were telepathic in some way still made her wary, even though she really didn’t have anything to hide from them.

 _Well, except my magic, age, and the fact I come from a completely different universe,_ she corrected herself with a frown.

“Yep,” the Doctor nodded.

“So, what about all these people round the edge?” Rose questioned, nodding to one as they passed.

“They’ve all got tiny, little chips in their head, connecting them to her....”

Rose paused to kneel down next to one of the people, wanting to get a closer look.

“....and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the empire beams out of this place,” the Doctor continued as they completed the circuit and leant against the railing, “Now, that's what I call power,” he remarked.

\----

The Editor frowned as he watched the unknown man writhe in the chair as he tried to pull information from his mind.

 _‘Analyse confirmed. Security breech,’_ the computer spoke up and he grinned.

“I knew it,” the Editor stated gleefully, “Which one?” he ordered and an image of Floor 139’s spike room appeared before him on a holo-monitor, “It's someone inside that room, which one?”

The image on the holo-monitor changed, showing each person in the spike room individually.

 _‘Isolating breech,’_ the computer told him, and he muttered impatiently, “Come on, show me. Who is it?”

The camera focussed on Rose, Aries and the Doctor.

\----

“You alright?” the Doctor asked Aries, seeing her troubled expression.

Aries’ eyebrows furrowed as she watched Cathica. “Why does it feel wrong?” she asked, turning to the Doctor, “I....” she frowned, searching for the words to describe what she was feeling, “This whole place, the technology, missing aliens, even the food. It just feels....”

“Wrong?” the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow at the red head. He was a little surprised that she had picked up on what he was feeling about the technology, although she did raise an important point about the food and aliens.

“Trouble?” Rose asked, looking between the pair, though she frowned at Aries.

“Oh yeah,” the Doctor grinned.

“Why do I get the feeling this is a regular thing for yo-" Aries was cut off when she felt a shift in the air and looked around.

“What is it?” the Doctor asked, causing her to look back at him, missing Suki twitch where she was sitting.

\----

“That's it!” the Editor exclaimed, pointing at the holo-monitor and laughed in triumph, “Yes! She’s the liar.”

He completely missed the man's lip twitched upwards as the camera focused on Suki and not the time travellers, knowing it would be a cold day in hell before he gave Aries up.

 _Just a little more time,_ the man thought to himself in a fortified part of his mind. A part where the Editor couldn’t access, knowing if the man got even a sliver of information that lay hidden there, it was the end of everything he had fought for.

“Intercept and scan,” the Editor continued, oblivious to his captives thoughts, “Gotcha.”

\----

Suki gasped, removing her hands from the pad as if she had received an electric shock, causing the others around them to lift theirs as well and the lights in the walls flickered off.

The compressed information streaming into Cathica's mind stopped and the door to her brain closed.

Aries frowned as she watched on, her eyes falling onto Suki as the woman rubbed her hands together, breathing heavily.

“Come off it, Suki,” Cathica snapped, rather annoyed with the interruption, “I wasn’t even halfway, what was that for?” she questioned.

“Sorry, must have been a glitch....” the woman replied.

 _I doubt that was a glitch,_ Aries thought, her eyes narrowing on Suki.

“What's wrong?” the Doctor asked quietly as he stepped up beside Aries, having seen her expression.

“I....don’t know,” the red head replied slowly as Cathica stood up with a huff.

\----

“Her information’s been tempered with. There’s a second biography hidden underneath” the Editor stated as the holo-monitor switched off.

He glanced at the man before leaving the room, needing to figure out just how Suki had slipped through the cracks. Though there was a grin on his face as he entered the main room, having felt the information shift from the man.

For whatever reason, he had finally given them something and the Editor couldn’t wait to see what other security breeches the man could find.

The moment he stepped into the main room however, the grin slipped from his face as there was a roar from above him and he looked up.

“Yes, sir?” he questioned, listening intently as there was more roaring, “Absolutely, sir,” he agreed, “Yeah, well – her data was encrypted, so there’s no way we could’ve found her sooner.”

The roar that came after his words was angry and the Editor nodded quickly.

“Yeah. I....sorry, sir,” he gave the beast above him the thumbs up, “Absolutely,” he added before turning to one of the frozen workers at the computers, “Get her up here. Now!” he snapped.

There was another roar, causing the Editor to pause.

“Well, yes,” he said, nodding his head slowly, “But why would he giving us information now?” he asked, though his answer was another roar that caused him to jump, “Of course, sir. I’ll try and find out what has changed.”

\----

Inside the spike room, the man opened his eyes the moment the blue stream stopped and he let out a heavy breath.

He hadn’t wanted to expose Suki, having known who she was the moment the Editor had first tried to pull information from him, but he knew if the Editor looked too closely at the Doctor, he would also look at Aries.

“I’m sorry, Suki,” he whispered, knowing that he had just handed her over to the Editor, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Until he knew that Aries was safe and back on the Doctor's ship, there was nothing that would stop him from protecting her. It was the least he could do after all he had done.


	16. Fools Gold

“What happened?” Rose asked Suki, noticing Cathica glaring at the woman.

Before Suki could respond, a projection sprung to life on one of the walls.

 _‘Promotion,’_ a tannoy announced, and Aries noted the change in Cathica the moment the projection had appeared.

“This is it,” the woman stated, her fingers crossed as she stared at the projection, “Come on. God, make it me. Come on, say my name.”

Aries shared a glance with the Doctor and Rose, the latter ignoring it before they looked back to Cathica. The red head was a little concerned about the other woman, and it seemed that even the Doctor was concerned for her.

“....say my name,” Cathica continued to plead, squeezing her eyes shut, “Say my name....”

 _‘Promotion for....,’_ Cathica opened her eyes, _‘Suki Macrae Cantrell.’_

The words flash in the projection and Suki's mouth dropped open in surprise. Cathica, however, looked completely gutted.

_‘Please proceed to Floor 500.’_

“I don’t believe it....” Suki breathed, awestruck as she stared at the projection, “....Floor 500....”

“What's so speci-” Aries begun, only to be cut off by Cathica as the woman turned on Suki.

“How the hell did you manage that?” Cathica snapped, unbelieving that she hadn’t been chosen, “I'm above you!”

“I don’t know,” Suki shrugged, “I just applied on the off-chance....and they said yes!”

“That’s so not fair,” Cathica bemoaned, “I've been applying to Floor 500 for three years!”

“Er, what’s so special about Floor 500?” Aries asked the Doctor and Rose quietly as she continued to look between Cathica and Suki, the feeling she had been getting since they started looking around earlier just growing by the second.

“The walls are made of gold,” Rose replied in a way that had the Doctor frowning at her, though she didn’t notice as she walked away to congratulate Suki.

“Why would the walls be made of gold?” the red head asked, turning to the Doctor.

“Don’t know,” he shrugged, unsure himself.

The pair looked back to Suki and the others as they congratulated the woman in her promotion. Aries couldn’t help but notice how Cathica was glaring at the woman, however, and it caused her eyebrows to furrow.

\----

The Editor entered the spike room on Floor 500, a smirk on his face as he approached the spike chair.

“Was that so hard?” he asked the man in the chair. When he didn’t get a response, he just shook his head, “You can fight us all you want, but sooner or later you _will_ give up your secrets.”

The man closed his eyes and turned his head away from the Editor, who scowled at the action.

“So be it,” the Editor snapped before leaving the room.

He approached one of the workers at the computers.

“Direct all information through the spike room,” he ordered, “Every titbit of information, every last drop. I want him to scream!”

There was a roar from above the Editor, though for the first time the man ignored it as he watched the monitor as the worker started to do as he said.

It took a moment before the Editor stepped back, a dark grin on his face as a scream came from the spike room.

“Lets see how resistant you will be now,” he muttered to himself.

\----

“Cathica, I'm gonna miss you!” Suki said as she, Cathica, Aries, Rose and the Doctor stood near the lift that led to Floor 500.

Cathica didn’t even glance at the woman, pointedly not even glancing in Suki's direction.

“Floor 500....” Suki continued, almost like she couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. She turned to the Doctor and Rose, “Thank you!” she told them.

“Bit, we didn’t do anything,” Rose told her, a little confused as to why she was being thanked.

“Well, you’re both my lucky charms!” Suki said before hugging the blonde.

Aries watched on, still feeling uneasy about what was happening. It didn’t seem right in her eyes and something was telling her that something had gone wrong.

Suki getting a promotion after supposedly ‘glitching' during her last job just raised so many red flags in Aries' mind.

A part of her was telling her that she was just too suspicious about everything, having lived the first thirty odd years of her life in a state of continuously watching over her shoulder, having to second guess anyone’s intentions.

But another part, a much larger part was telling Aries that her unease had been present long before Suki had gotten promoted. That there was something much larger happening here.

“Aries?” the Doctor's thoughts cut through her musing and she blinked, only to realise everyone was looking at her, waiting.

“Oh, eh, sorry?” she rubbed the back of her neck before holding out the other to Suki, “Congratulations on your promotion, Suki,” she told the other woman.

Suki shook her head before pulling the red head into a hug, causing Aries to stiffen and inhale sharply when she felt as though her whole body had been submerged in ice-cold water.

“Oh, my God,” Suki giggled as she pulled away from Aries, not noticing the red heads expression in her excitement, “I've got to go, I can’t keep them waiting,” she continued and picked up her bag, “I'm sorry!” the lift pinged and the doors slid open and she stepped inside.

“Say goodbye to Steve for me,” was the last thing they heard as the lift doors closed and Aries let out a shaking breath, trying not to shiver at the cold feeling that still ghosted across her skin.

“Good riddance,” Cathica huffed, causing the Doctor and Rose to glance at her. Aries was still staring at the lift doors.

“You’re talking like you'll never see her again,” the Doctor remarked, eyeing Cathica curiously, “She's only gone upstairs.”

“We won’t,” Cathica replied, her tone uncaring, “Once you go to Floor 500, you never come back.”

The Doctor looked to the closed lift doors, his eyebrows knitting together before he noticed Aries was also watching the lift and he frowned.

\----

Suki shifted nervously inside the lift as it headed up to Floor 500.

By the time the lift finally reached Floor 500, she had resorted to pacing as her nerves grew.

The doors opened and she looked out beyond the doors, only to see that Floor 500 was covered in frost and snow, the snow gently falling from the ceiling.

Picking up her bag, Suki stepped out of the lift, her eyes wide as she looked around nervously.

The doors behind her slid shut and she turned to them in alarm and threw herself against them, realising that there was something seriously wrong, but her effort was for naught.

Giving up on the doors, Suki rummaged through her bag and produced a torch before walking cautiously further into Floor 500, holding her torch out in front of her.

There is a small sound from one of the side rooms and she edged into it slowly, unsure what she would find.

\----

The Doctor, Rose and a silent Aries followed Cathica back to the canteen area after Suki had left, the red head glancing behind them with a troubled expression.

“Have you ever been up there?” the Doctor asked Cathica.

“No,” Cathica admitted, still sour over Suki's promotion, “You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to 500 except for the chosen few.”

\----

Suki shone her torch around, finding herself in a spike room much similar to the one where she worked.

A gasp left her lips, her hand flying to cover them when her eyes landed on a man laying on the jump seat, afraid she had alerted him to her presence, but the man didn’t move, his eyes closed.

She moved her torch around, finding that there were eight others sitting around the edge of the platform, but found that unlike the man, these people were covered in a layer of frost.

She edged up closer to the man, wondering what was going on and almost shrieked when his eyes snapped open and looked at her.

 _You should leave,_ a voice in her head sounded and Suki spun around, trying to find the source, only to jump when the voice sounded again, _Now!_

She wasted no time in doing just that as the lights in the room started to flicker to life, rushing out of the room without a backwards glance.

The moment she entered the corridor outside the spike room, a shift of light fell across the floor and Suki swallowed heavily as she glanced around, and after finding no other indication of what she should do, she followed it.

The light led to Floor 500’s main control room and Suki suddenly found herself facing the Editor.

There were more of the frost-covered workers she had seen in the spike room, each one sat before a computer as they worked away, almost like zombies.

“Who are you?” she asked as she approached the man, turning her torch off and put it back in her bag.

“I'm the Editor,” the man replied with a wave.

“What's happening?” Suki questioned, forcing her voice to waver as she continued, “There's....bodies out there, what's going on?”

“Well, while we’re asking questions,” the Editor replied, not answering her, “Would you please confirm your name.”

He snapped his fingers and a projection of Suki appeared between them, a recording of the time she had applied to work on Satellite Five.

 _“My name is Suki Macrae Cantrell. I was born 1-9-9’8-9 in the Independent Republic of Morocco,”_ the projection said.

“Liar,” the Editor cut in, causing Suki to look at him, a flicker of defiance igniting in her gaze.

_“Hobbies include reading and archaeology. I’m not an expert or anything, I just like digging.”_

“Liar!” the Editor snapped his fingers again and the recording is forwarded to a different point.

 _“I want to work for Satellite Five because my sister can’t afford university,”_ the projected Suki continued, causing the Editor to shake his head and the real Suki to look between him and the recording, _“And the pay scheme is really good....”_

“Liar!” the Editor shouted and the defiance that had flickered to life in Suki’s eyes just continued to grow. “Let's look at the facts, shall we?” he asked the woman before snapping his fingers.

The projection changed, showing Suki now in a trench wearing army attire as she fired a gun, shouting to her comrades.

“Ah, hidden behind a genetic graft,” the Editor stated, wondering what other facts the man in the spike room could find or knew. He looked to the real Suki as he continued, getting his thoughts back on track, “But that's still you. Eva San Julienne. Last surviving member of the Freedom Fifteen! Hmm, self declared anarchist, is that right?” he questioned.

Suki suddenly pulled a gun from her bag and pointed it at the Editor. The nervousness and hesitancy in her voice disappeared as it became harsher....colder.

“Who controls Satellite Five?” she demanded.

The Editor raised his hands slowly, a shocked expression on his face before he suddenly burst into laughter, lowering his hands.

“There's the truth!” he exclaimed, finally knowing he could provide his Master’s with something fruitful in regards to the unknown male. He just had to get rid of this ant before he could figure out what other secrets were being hidden on Satellite Five.

“The Freedom Foundation has been monitoring Satellite Five’s transmissions. We have absolute proof that the facts are being manipulated. You’re lying to the people,” Suki accused, not phased by the Editor's outburst.

“Ooh, I love it. Say it again,” the Editor replied with a grin.

“This whole system is corrupt,” she stepped towards the man, her gun ready, “Who do you represent?” she demanded again.

“I’m merely a humble slave,” the Editor told her, although his grin remained, “I answer to the Editor in Chief.”

“Well, who is he? Where is he?” Suki demanded, her gaze flickering around the room, trying to locate who the Editor was talking about.

“He's overseeing everything. Literally everything,” the Editor told her, which only caused her eyes to narrow when they fell back onto him, “If you don’t mind, I'm going to have to refer this upwards.”

He clicked his fingers and pointed upwards, just as the roaring voice started again and Suki immediately pointed her gun to the ceiling.

“What is that?” she asked, the tremble in her voice as real as the tremble in her hands.

“Your boss,” the Editor replied with a smirk, “This has always been your boss. Since the day you were born.”

Suki ineffectively unloaded her weapon onto the creature above her, but it just bore down on her.

\----

Inside Floor 500’s spike room, the man sighed as he closed his eyes, hearing Suki's screams.

\----

Back on Floor 139, Cathica entered the spike room, followed by the trio of time travellers.

“Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance, can’t you give it a rest?” the woman asked, getting fed up with the questions.

“But you’ve never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?” the Doctor continued to question as he settled himself down comfortably in the chair on the platform, tensing slightly when Rose rested against the back of it.

He glanced at Aries, finding her rather quiet with a thoughtful expression on her face. One he had seen before and knew she was just as interested as the happenings on the satellite as he was.

“I went to Floor 16 when I first arrived,” Cathica explained, causing the Doctor to look back to her, “That's medical. That’s where I got my head done, and then I, I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all....You’re not management, are you?” she asked, eyeing the trio suspiciously.

“At last! She’s clever!” the Doctor exclaimed, causing Aries to jump in surprise, having been lost in thought and he gave her an apologetic look.

“Yeah, well, whatever it is, don’t involve me,” Cathica told them, shaking her head, “I don’t know anything.”

“Don’t you even ask?” Aries questioned, her eyebrows creasing in confusion.

This was a news satellite, and unless it was done differently in the future, journalists were the most annoying, in-your-face people that never seemed to stop asking questions, always digging for something interesting and tasty to print.

“Well, why would I?” Cathica replied, frowning.

“You’re a journalist!” Aries stated in confusion, “Questioning things should be the first thing you'd do.”

“Why's all the crew human?” the Doctor asked when Cathica just stared dumbly at Aries. His Nesdra did provide a valid point, but it seemed that the other woman just wasn’t seeing it.

“What's that got to do with anything?” Cathica turned to the Time Lord, growing increasingly confused and irritated by their questions.

“There's no aliens on board. Why?” he asked.

“I don’t know – no real reason, they’re not banned or anything,” Cathica explained.

“Then where are they?” Rose asked as she looked around the room.

Cathica seemed stumped by that. “I supposed immigration’s tightened up,” she surmised, “It had to, what, with all the threats.”

“What threats?” Aries asked, taking the words straight from the Doctor's mouth.

“I don’t know....” Cathica replied, looking a little lost, “All of them. Usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled, so that kept the visitors away....”

The three time travellers watched her intently, causing Cathica to shift uncomfortably.

“Oh, and the government on Traffic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see....just....lots of little reasons, that’s all.”

“Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn’t even notice,” the Doctor stated.

“Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it. We see everything,” Cathica told him.

“I can see better,” the Doctor was quick to reply, “The society’s the wrong shape. Even the technology.”

“It's cutting edge!” Cathica argued.

“It's wrong, backwards,” Aries spoke up, and the Doctor nodded in agreement.

“There’s a great big door in your head,” he added, “You should’ve chucked this out years ago.”

“So, what do you think is going on?” Rose asked the Time Lord, who frowned.

“It's not just this space station, it’s the whole attitude,” he explained, “It's the way people think. The great and bountiful human empire stunted. Something's holding it back.”

“And how would _you_ know?” Cathica asked a little sharply, affronted.

“Trust me. Humanity’s been set back about ninety years,” the Doctor replied.

“When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?” Aries questioned, coming to finally stand beside the chair the Doctor was sitting in.

Cathica hesitated before replying, realising that they may be onto something. “Ninety-one years ago....”

The Doctor nodded at her and she looked away with a troubled, but thoughtful expression.

\----

“We’re so gonna get into trouble,” Cathica said, looking around to make sure no one was watching as the Doctor scanned the side of a door with his sonic. “You’re not allowed to touch the mainframe, you’re gonna get told off,” the woman continued as she stepped up closer to the trio.

“Rose, tell her to button it,” the Time Lord grumbled as he continued with what he was doing.

He could have asked Aries, but the red head had seemed distracted since Suki had left and he couldn’t help but wonder what was going through her mind.

“You can’t just vandalise the place, someone's gonna notice!” Cathica hissed in a harsh whisper, just as the Doctor wrenched the door open.

\----

Up on Floor 500, the Editor was watching the preceding’s with a frown.

“I don’t understand! We did a full security scan,” he stated, rather confused as to what he was seeing, “That man was there when we found Suki Macrae Cantrell. There were no indications about him. And yet here he is....”

He lent forwards, leaning over the frosted form of Suki, who was now hard at work at a terminal.

“Clearly acting out of the parameters,” he continued before looking back to the screen that showed the Doctor as he messed around with the mainframe, “Fascinating.”

The Editor jumped when the beast above him roared at him and was quick to respond.

“Yes, sir. Absolutely. At once.”

He moved down the line of frosted workers, speaking to each one in turn.

“Check him. Double check him. Triple check him. Quadruple!”

The beast rumbled again and the Editor paused before a smirk appeared on his face.

“Of course,” he said, leaving the room.

\----

Aries frowned as she watched the Doctor trying to work his way through the wires of Satellite Five's mainframe.

She had no idea what had happened earlier when Suki had hugged her and couldn’t help but ponder on what it could mean.

As much as the red head thought the place to a bit a stuffy, there was no reason for Suki's touch to have felt like ice and wondered what it meant.

Something was telling her that what she had felt was important....vital even, but she just couldn’t work out why.

“This has nothing to do with me,” Cathica spoke up and the red head glanced at her. “I'm going back to work,” she added before walking away.

“Go on then! See you!” the Doctor replied, not even looking up from what he was doing, though his words caused Cathica to stop.

“I can’t just leave you, can I?” the woman stated.

“If you wanna be useful,” Rose said, turning to the woman, “Get ‘em to turn the heating down. It's boiling,” she fanned herself as if to drive the point home and Aries’ eyebrows knitted together.

“What's wrong with this place, can’t they do something about it?” Rose continued to question.

“I don’t know, we keep asking,” Cathica replied, “Something to do with the turbine.”

The Doctor repeated her words mockingly, “Something to do with the turbine,” which only earned him a look from Aries before she finally spoke up.

“I don’t think it’s the turbine,” she said, only to earn confused looks from the others. “I....I'm not sure, but I think it's something else.”

“What else could it be?” Rose asked while Cathica just looked between them in disbelief.

“One minute you’re worried about the Empire, and the next it’s central heating!” she cut in before Aries could say anything.

“Well, never underestimate plumbing. Plumbing’s very important,” the Time Lord remarked, just before he accidently snapped a bunch of wires, causing Cathica to look away exasperated.

\----

“Who is he?!” the Editor demanded as the man in the spike chair writhed and jerked. The blue stream of energy tried to rip information from him, though to no avail.

There was a projection of Aries, the Doctor, Rose and Cathica showing in the room and the Editor was getting beyond frustrated with the mans continued defiance.

He had never had trouble before getting information from anyone before, but for some reason, the man seemed resistant to anything he did.

Before he could question the man again, the computer spoke up.

_‘Security scan complete.’_

“Well, who is he?” the Editor questioned, a bit impatient.

 _‘He is no-one,’_ the computer informed him and he laughed, not comprehending what it meant.

“What does that mean?” the Editor asked, now ignoring the man in the spike chair as he turned his complete focus on the computer.

 _‘He is no-one,’_ the computer repeated.

The Editor frowned, “What, you mean he has a fake ID?” he asked, trying to understand what the computer was saying.

 _‘He has no identification,’_ the computer stated.

“But everyone’s registered. We have a census for the entire Empire,” he remarked, now becoming baffled.

_‘He is no-one.’_

“What, he doesn’t exist? Not anywhere?”

_‘He is no-one.’_

The Editor was now beyond baffled. He was utterly confused. “What about the red head and the blonde?” he questioned.

There was a delay before the computer spoke up again, _‘They are no-one.’_

“Both of them?!” the Editor exclaimed, incredulous. He looked back to the man and shut down the stream of energy with a click of his fingers before he grinned, “Well! We all know what happens to non-entities. They get promoted.”

The Editor then left the room to get one of the zombie workers to bring the unknown trio up to Floor 500.

\----

The Doctor had managed to hack into Satellite Five’s successfully and turned the screen so Cathica could see it, as well as an ever curious Aries.

“Here we go, Satellite Five. Pipes and plumbing,” he said as he moved to stand behind them so they could see the monitor, “Look at the layout,” he instructed.

Both women examined the screen, though Aries's expression immediately turned troubled at what she was seeing.

“This is ridiculous,” Cathica remarked, rather bemused, “You’ve got access to the computer's core. You can look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange....and you’re looking at pipes?”

“But there’s something wrong,” Aries told her, causing the woman to study the schematics a bit closer.

“I suppose....” Cathica trailed of, seeing what the Doctor and Aries had seen.

“Why, what is it?” Rose questioned, unsure what they were talking about.

“The ventilation system,” Cathica begun to explain, “Cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat out....channelling massive amounts of heat _down_.” She looked upwards.

“All the way from the top,” Aries muttered as she too looked upwards.

“Floor 500,” Rose added.

The Time Lord nodded, “Something up there is generating tonnes and tonnes of heat,” he confirmed.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m missing out on a party,” Rose said with a grin, causing Aries to look at her with a frown, “It's all going on upstairs. Fancy a trip?”

“I don’t think that's a good idea,” Aries informed the blonde, wondering two things.

The first being that Rose must be completely mental to think walking into a place unknown without the foggiest of what could be going on was such a good idea. It reminded her of how the blonde had acted about floating through a German air-raid while wearing a Union Jack shirt, brushing if off like it had been nothing.

And the second thing Aries wondered was if what she had felt from Suki had anything to do with Floor 500 and why it seemed to be siphoning heat down to the floors below it.

“And anyway, you can’t,” Cathica added, “You need a key.”

“Keys are just codes, and I have the codes right here,” the Doctor remarked as he tapped a few keys on the monitor. He grinned a moment later, “Here we go, override 215.9.”

Aries frowned at the Time Lord, unsure if going upstairs was a good idea. She wanted to try and find out more about what was going on before she even thought of heading upstairs.

“How come it’s given you the code?” Cathica asked in disbelief, having spent years trying to get a promotion to Floor 500, only to have these three people given it without a fuss.

The Doctor looked up to a security camera. “Someone up there likes me,” he said.

\----

Up on Floor 500, the Editor laughed to himself as he watched the group whom were unaware of what lay instore for them.


	17. Of Questions And Answers

When the lift doors opened on Floor 139, Rose, the Doctor and Aries stepped into it, though Cathica stopped outside.

Aries still wanted to look into what could be causing whatever was happening on Floor 500 to be producing so much heat and siphoning it down to the floors below, but she also didn’t want to let the Doctor and Rose go up there without her, seeing that both were quite happy to figure out what was going on by going straight to Floor 500.

“Come on, come with us!” Rose tried to get Cathica to join them, but the woman refused.

“No way!”

“Bye!” the Doctor waved at her, not really caring whether or not the woman came with them.

“Well, don’t mention my name. When you get into trouble, just don’t involve me!” Cathica told them before stalking off, causing Aries to just raise an eyebrow at her retreating form, wondering why she _still_ seemed so eager to keep her job when they all knew that something was most definitely going on.

“That’s her gone,” the Time Lord stated as he glanced at his companions, “Looks like it’s just you two and me.” He inserted a card into the controls and the doors of the lift closed.

“Yeah, great” Rose replied with a huff, not really liking the fact that Aries had to have joined them on this trip. The blonde had been trying to forget the red head was even there, but now that the three of them were all in a lift together, it was becoming difficult.

The Doctor just rolled his eyes before glancing at Aries, who only frowned at him. “What is it?” he asked.

“I don’t like this,” she said, her frown deepening, “It’s just,” she sighed before slipping her jacket back on, deciding that if it was going to be cold upstairs, she would like to be prepared for something. She looked back to the Doctor when she was done, “I just don’t like walking into something I have no idea about. All we know is that for some reason, someone or something is producing enough heat to cause the temperature to raise on four hundred and ninety-nine floors, all the while managing to also control anything and everything that comes and goes from this satellite and possibly the Earth below.”

Aries ran a hand through her hair with another sigh as she looked to the doors. The feeling she had been getting about the satellite was only growing stronger the closer they got to Floor 500 and the red head wasn’t too sure what it meant.

Before either the Doctor or Rose could respond, the lift slowed as it reached Floor 500 and the doors opened. The trio stepped out and looked around, only to find themselves in an area that was completely frozen. Frost covered the floor and walls and Aries couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of when she had been hugged by Suki, having gotten the same feeling she was getting now.

 _But what did that mean?_ the red head asked herself, wondering why she would have gotten the chilling, frozen feeling from a hug from someone she didn’t even know. Though that thought was overtaken by another, one that wasn’t hers.

_Aries?_

“The walls are not made of gold,” the Doctor spoke up before glancing at Aries and Rose, “You two should go back down.” He was quite happy to figure out what was going on, without putting his Nesdra or companion at risk, and Aries had brought up a good point. They really didn’t have any idea what was going on and the last thing he wanted to do was put her in any unnecessary danger.

Rose snorted, glancing at the red head, “ _She_ can if she’s too chicken, but I’m not,” she told the Time Lord before striding off.

The Doctor watched her go before turning to Aries, only to find the red head staring in the direction Rose had gone in, her expression confused.

“Aries?” he asked, placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder and causing her to look at him, “You should go back. I’ll get Rose and meet you downstairs.”

The red head didn’t say anything, only nodded her head and the Doctor followed after his companion. The moment he was gone however, Aries closed her eyes, trying to figure out who was talking to her mentally and how, only to find nothing. Not even a trace of someone having entered her mind, even briefly.

“Strange,” she muttered as her eyes opened and she looked around the room. Glancing behind her to the lift, Aries thought about taking it back down, but that would leave the Doctor and Rose up here on their own and she couldn’t do that. Even if the blonde didn’t seem to like her, there was no way Aries could just let them walk into danger alone.

Letting out a huff of frosted air, the red head followed after the Doctor and Rose, silently wondering if this was a regular occurrence for them.

Any time she had run into the pair, it always seemed to lead to trouble. There was a small voice in Aries’ mind that told her she had dealt with enough trouble to last her the rest of her life, however long that may be. But the red head couldn’t deny that however much she was happy with her life the way it was now, however much she tried to move on from her past, a part of her seemed to wait for the Doctor to show up again. It was almost like she was waiting for him, though she had no idea why.

Aries walked down the corridor lost in her musings before she found herself in front of a door labelled ‘Spike Room’. She didn’t know what it was, but before she realised what she was doing, the red head had entered the room.

A gasp left her when she saw what was inside the room and went to back out, only to stop when a strained, but somewhat familiar voice reached her.

“Aries?”

The red head swallowed as she stepped further into the room, avoiding the frost-covered workers that surrounded the spike chair where a man was laying, looking directly at her.

“You....how do you know me?” she asked, her eyes darting to the workers before resting back on the man.

\----

By the time the Doctor had caught up to Rose, they had made it to the control room.

There was a man who had their back to them, watching the screens while more frost-covered workers sat before monitors as they worked.

“I started without you,” the Editor said as he turned to the Doctor and Rose, a little surprised that the red head wasn’t with them, but shrugged it off. There was only one other place she could be, and that worked just fine with him. “This is fascinating,” he continued, “Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habit, bank statements, but you two and your little red headed friend....you don’t exist!”

The Doctor and Rose just stared at him, causing the man to laugh.

“Not a trace! No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?” he asked the pair.

Neither answered, though Rose spotted Suki sitting before one of the screens as the now frost-covered woman continued to type away.

“Suki! Suki!” the blonde exclaimed as she rushed towards the woman and knelt next to her, but Suki didn’t respond. “Hello? Can you hear me? Suki?” Rose continued before turning to the Editor, “What’ve you done to her?”

“I think she’s dead,” the Doctor stated, trying to keep his voice level as his mind went immediately to Aries, hoping she was fine. He wanted to kick himself for splitting up with her and not taking her straight back to the TARDIS.

“She’s working....”

“They’ve all got chips in their head,” the Doctor cut her off, “And the chips keep going,” he glared at the Editor, “Like puppets.”

“Ohhh! You’re full of information!” the man said with a grin, “But it’s only fair we get information back, because apparently, you’re no-one,” he finished with a laugh and the Doctor nodded. “It’s so rare not to know something,” the Editor continued before turning serious, “Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter, ‘cause we’re off. Nice to meet you,” the Doctor replied before turning to Rose, “Come on.”

The moment he went to leave, two of the workers restrained him. Rose also tried to follow, only for Suki’s corpse to grab her arm.

“Tell me who you are!” the Editor persisted, his voice rising.

The Doctor tried to get the workers to release him as he glared at the Editor. “Since that information’s keeping us alive, I’m hardly gonna say, am I?” he said, rather glad that Aries wasn’t with them. If the Editor had even laid a hand on her, there was no telling what he would have done.

The Editor smiled none to nicely as he spoke, “Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise.”

“And who’s that?” the Doctor asked.

“It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it’s not actually human at all. It’s merely a place where humans happen to live.” There was a low growl that sounded angry and the Editor was quick to correct himself, “Yeah, sorry. It’s a place where humans are _allowed_ to live by the kind permission of my client.”

He snapped his fingers and pointed upwards towards the creature in the ceiling. The Doctor and Rose follow where he was pointing, only to see a huge, slobbering lump of alien with a mouth full of sharp, snapping teeth.

“Wh-what is that?” Rose asked nervously.

“You mean, that thing’s in charge of Satellite Five?” the Doctor questioned, looking at the alien.

“That ‘thing’, as you put it, is in charge of the human race,” the Editor corrected, causing the Doctor to look back to him in alarm. “For almost a hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news. Edited by my superior, your master, and humanities guiding light, the might Jagrafess of Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe,” the Jagrafess roared, “I call him Max.”

The Doctor smiled sarcastically and nodded, wondering how he was going to get out of this mess and back to Aries.

\----

In Floor 500’s spike room, the man shook his head at Aries.

“I, I have heard of you,” he told the red head, causing her to frown.

“But that’s not possible,” she stated, “This is almost two-“

“No,” the man hissed, shooting a glance to the workers that surrounded the seat he was laying on.

Aries followed his gaze, wondering why he had cut her off, only to remember her own words she had said earlier and looked back to the man and nodded. If this place truly was being controlled, it was probably better not to mention that she was not from this time period.

“You need to leave, Aries,” the man told her, “All of you.”

“What is even going on here?” the red head asked, motioning towards the workers, “And who are you? I know I heard you earlier.”

“You need to leave,” the man repeated, shaking his head when Aries opened her mouth, “No. Listen to me. If you stay, I can’t stop th-him.”

“I can’t leave you here,” Aries stated firmly.

An expression flickered over the mans face and the red head would have guessed it to be surprise, but it was gone as quick as it appeared before she could figure out exactly what it was.

“You have to,” the man stated as he looked up to the ceiling, “Get them out of here before it begins.”

Aries frowned, wanting to know what he was talking about, but the man turned his head away. She sighed before turning back to the door and started to walk away, only to pause when the man spoke up again.

“And Aries.”

She looked to him in confusion, though he didn’t see as he still had his head turned away.

“You can trust him.”

“Who?” the red head questioned, only to turn back to the door when it opened. She made a sound of surprise when four frost-covered workers entered, her mind immediately going back to what happened with Jamie and the gasmask people.

“No!” the man shouted as he went to get up, only to be stopped by two of the workers that had been sitting around the spike chair, “Leave her alone!” he demanded as the four workers that had entered went to grab Aries.

Aries managed to get passed the first three, knocking the first two down with a stunner and the third by grabbing their arm when the worker went to grab her and twisted it behind their back before kicking them away.

The man begun struggling in earnest when he saw Aries collapse after the fourth had knocked her out with a blow to the back of the head.

“Let me go!”

His struggles only caused the two that were holding him back to be joined by two of the newcomers that had quickly shook off the stunner the red head had hit them with, and the four of them managed to hold him down on the chair.

“If you even think of harming her, I’ll rip yo-”

He never got to finish his threat as one of the frosted workers snapped their fingers and blue light streamed into his forehead, causing him to scream in agony as information was ripped from his mind.

\----

Cathica, who had returned to the lift that the tree time travellers had used, along with Suki earlier, stepped inside. She had gone back to the computer that the Doctor had hacked into and found the code it had given him to get to Floor 500.

But when she tried the code, it didn’t work.

 _‘Access denied,’_ a computerized voice stated and Cathica scowled.

\----

The Doctor and Rose found themselves restrained with manacles in Floor 500’s control room.

“If we create a climate of fear....then its easy to keep the borders closed,” the Editor explained to the pair, “It’s just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy....invent an enemy....change a vote....”

“So, all the people on Earth are like, slaves,” Rose cut in, causing the man to look at her.

“Well, now. There’s an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn’t know he’s enslaved?” he asked.

“Yes,” the Time Lord stated simply.

“Oh,” the Editor seemed to pout, “I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I’m going to get? Yes?”

The Doctor just repeated his answer, “Yes.”

The Editor laughed at his response. “You’re no fun,” he told the Time Lord.

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed on the man. “Let me out of these manacles, you’ll find out how much fun I am,” he threatened.

“Oh, he’s tough, isn’t he,” the Editor remarked with a grin, “But, come on. Isn’t it a great system? You’ve got to admire it, just a little bit,” he added as he moved over to one of the screens when something caught his eye.

“You can’t hide something on this scale. Someone must’ve noticed,” Rose told the man.

“From time to time, someone, yes,” he replied as his eyes narrowed on the image of Aries in the spike room, _talking_ with the male on the chair before a grin appeared on his face and he straightened. Looking back to Rose and the Doctor as he tapped a few workers shoulder’s as he approached the manacled pair, “But the computer system allows me to see inside their brain....I can see the smallest doubt, and crush it. And they just carry on, living their life. Strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they’re so individual.”

The Doctor frowned as he watched four of the workers leave the room, wondering where they were going. He couldn’t help but worry about Aries, more so after telling her that he was only going to get Rose and meet her back on Floor 139.

“When of course, they’re not,” the Editor continued, “They’re just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn’t changed a thing.”

“What about you?” Rose asked, “You’re not a Jagra....uh....a....”

“Jagrafess,” the Doctor supplied distractedly, starting to worry more about his Nesdra. Something was telling him that it wouldn’t have taken her long at all to figure something was wrong, and having seen how she was in Downing Street, the Doctor also knew that there was a high chance she would come back to figure out what it was.

“Jagrafess. You’re not a Jagrafess. You’re human.”

The Editor shrugged, “Yeah, well simply being human doesn’t pay well,” he replied.

“But you couldn’t have done this all on your own,” Rose continued.

“No!” the Editor agreed, “I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to, um....install himself.”

“No wonder, a creature that size,” the Doctor observed, shaking his head before nodding to the beast above them. “What’s his life span?” he asked, silently hoping that Aries was safe and back in his ship.

“Three thousand years,” the Editor told them and the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

“That’s one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That’s why Satellite Five’s so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs – Jagrafess stays cool, stays alive. Satellite Five’s one great big life support system.”

“But _that’s_ why you’re so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown,” the Editor stated with a small laugh before clicking his fingers.

The manacles emitted an electric shock through the Doctor and Rose, causing the blonde to cry out while the Doctor grimaced in pain.

“Who are you?” the Editor demanded.

The Time Lord looked to his companion before turning back to the Editor, “Leave her alone. I’m the Doctor, she’s Rose Tyler, we’re nothing, we’re just wandering.”

“Tell me who you are!” the Editor demanded again, “And your little red headed companion.”

“I just said!” the Doctor shouted, “And I don’t know who you’re talking about,” he added, feeling his hearts pick up at the thought of this ape getting his hands on Aries.

“She arrived with you both,” the man stated, almost casually before turning serious, “So tell me, who is she? Who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly....” he trailed off.

The Doctor looked at the Editor questionably, though the man only smiled.

“Maybe this might help jog your memory.”

The Editor snapped his fingers and a projection appeared of Floor 500’s spike room and the Doctor felt his hearts stop at the sight of Aries unconscious, being supported by two frost-covered workers while a brunette man writhed and screamed as information was being torn from his mind.

“Ah, so you _do_ know her,” the Editor said smugly, seeing the Doctor’s face pale.

“You let her go!” the Time Lord almost snarled as he tore his eyes away from the projection to glare at the Editor, the Oncoming Storm surfacing at the sight of his unconscious Nesdra. He really wanted to get out of the manacles now and show the human why so many species feared him.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” the man said with an uncaring shrug, “Although, I do wonder how those two,” he nodded to the projection, “Know each other. I have tried for days to get that man to talk to me, give me information, but to no avail. But your little friend there,” the projection focused on the unconscious red head, “She managed to get him to speak without even trying.”

Surprise and confusion flickered across the Doctor’s face at that as he looked back to the projection as it changed, showing Aries’ and the man’s conversation that had happened moments ago. His confusion only grew as he heard the man say Aries name, wondering how the brunette knew his Nesdra when the Time Lord could clearly see that Aries had no idea who the brunette was.

“What the hell!” Rose spoke up as the frost-covered workers entered the spike room, only for two to be thrown backwards by a red beam of light from Aries, while the next was kicked away by the red head.

The Doctor struggled to get free from the manacles when he watched the fourth worker hit his Nesdra, knocking her out cold while the brunette on the spike chair did the same, trying to get to Aries before being held down by the workers.

“Tell me,” the Editor spoke up, clicking his fingers and causing the projection to change back to showing Aries unconscious while the brunette screamed, “Can you all do that?” he asked as he approached the manacled pair, “Or is it only her?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” the Doctor spat, straining against his restraints.

“Oh, so it’s only her then,” the Editor smirked as he went to touch Rose’s face, though Rose was quick to jerk away from his touch, “To bad. My Master’s would have been very interested in more than just one subject to study.”

Before the Doctor could say anything, there was a males voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

_You will not have her!_

The Doctor and Rose looked around in confusion before the Time Lord’s eyes landed on the projection, noticing that the man was no longer screaming or moving. In fact, the blue energy that had once been streaming into the brunettes head had begun to surround the man before turning a deep yellow.

“Doctor, what’s happening?” Rose asked as her eyes darted around as a low growl seemed to echo off the walls, though is didn’t come from the Jagrafess above them.

“It can’t be,” the Time Lord murmured, his eyes wide as he stared at the brunette just as the yellow energy that had surrounded the man shot straight up into the device that had previously tried to rip information from him.

The Editor spun around to the projection, his expression alarmed. “Impossible,” he breathed before crying out, clutching his head as it was suddenly filled with everything the man knew. “Stop him!” he screamed at the workers, only to find them slumped over in their chairs, unmoving.

“What is he doing?!” Rose turned to the Doctor, utterly terrified by the brunette as the icicles around them started to melt.

The Doctor didn’t respond as he stared at the projection, his mind trying to comprehend what he was seeing. It shouldn’t have been possible and a part of him didn’t want to believe it. But the evidence was right in front of him. _But how?_ he asked himself.

The Editor managed to make his way over to one of the computers and pushed the worker out of the chair as he tried to stop the brunette from destroying everything.

Before the man could even try, all the screens exploded and he was thrown back in the force of the explosion. The entire Satellite shuttered and alarms sounded and people on the floors below were running and screaming in the chaos that had been created.

 _You should never have touched her,_ the males voice sounded again as Rose and the Doctor’s manacles came undone.

“Doctor!” Rose shouted as she grabbed the Time Lord’s hand, breaking him from his shock and the Jagrafess above them roared as the temperature rose.

“He’s venting the heat up here,” the Doctor said as he looked around, not even questioning how the man knew what to do, “The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it’s sitting on top of a volcano,” he finished with a laugh.

“So are we!” Rose exclaimed, causing the Doctor to sober.

“Come on!” he shouted and begun to run out of the room.

Rose followed him, jumping when there was a small explosion near her. “What are you doing?” she asked, seeing the Time Lord enter another room. She went to follow when she didn’t get a response, only to back up as the Doctor and the brunette stumbled out of the spike room, a now conscious Aries between them.

\----

When the group managed to get back to Floor 139, everyone was already starting to recover from the commotion.

“Oh, I’m not doing that again,” Aries muttered as she sat on a seat in the canteen area, the Doctor checking the back of her head.

“I should have made sure you got back to the TARDIS before going up there,” the Doctor murmured as he found that there wasn’t a scratch on her and let out a relieved breath.

“Doctor, you had no idea what was going on up there,” Aries stated, looking to the Time Lord with a frown.

“Yes, and look at where that got you,” he shot back, angry with himself for not making sure Aries had been safe before following after Rose. She was his Nesdra and he was supposed to make sure she was safe and well, not chasing after his stubborn companion.

His comment however, only caused Aries’ eyebrows to crease and Rose to roll her eyes as she looked away, her gaze landing on the brunette who was standing beside the TARDIS, his hand resting on the side of the blue box.

“How are you feeling?” Cathica asked from across the table, eyeing the red head in concern.

“Bit of a headache, but I’ll be fine,” Aries replied with a small smile.

“We’re just gonna go,” the Doctor said as he helped Aries stand, not wanting her out of his sight until they were safe back on the TARDIS, “I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You’ll manage,” he told Cathica.

“You’ll have to stay and explain it. No-one’s going to believe me,” the woman replied, still somewhat unbelieving of what she had been told herself.

“Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now,” the Time Lord stated with a grin, “The Human Race should accelerate. All back to normal.”

Cathica turned her gaze to the man she had been told who had stopped the Editor, although the Doctor had been very vague on what the brunette had actually done. “What about your friend?” she asked.

The Doctor and Aries followed her gaze to the brunette who seemed to be talking with the TARDIS. “I’m not sure,” the Time Lord said with a frown before heading over to the man with Aries, his arm wrapping around the red heads shoulders as Rose trailed behind them.

“-kortha. You’ll see me again. Just make sure to keep them safe,” they heard the brunette say before he turned towards the three time travellers, “I guess this is goodbye.”

“Who are you?’ the Doctor asked, getting straight to the point and causing the man to smirk.

“Ah, now that is a question I have been hearing a lot lately,” the brunette replied before shaking his head, “But you,” he glanced between the Doctor and Aries, purposely ignoring Rose as an unknown expression passed over his eyes. “You two can call me Ly,” he said, his smirk softening into a smile.

“Ly?” Aries tested the name, finding it a bit odd and the man nodded, taking no offence, “Thank you for, well, you know,” she muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head gingerly.

“There is no need. If anyone is to be thankful, it should be me,” Ly replied, though he held up a hand when Aries went to say something, “No, I am quite serious and am never one to generally thank anyone. I have heard quite a bit about the two of you,” he looked to the Doctor, whom was watching him with a frown, “And I must say that it has really been an eye-opener to meet you both in person.”

Rose scoffed, not seeing what was so great about meeting Aries. _All she managed to do was get herself knocked out,_ she thought, _It wasn’t like she had done anything important._

Ly raised an eyebrow as he turned his black eyes to the blonde. “It will be thoughts like that that will end up getting you into trouble, Rose Tyler,” he said, “If I were you, I would be more concerned about the fact that you ditched your boyfriend to travel the stars and carelessly flirted with someone whom could have made this whole mess even worse after setting a Dalek loose, even if you didn’t know better. You’re only _human_ after all,” he said the word human as if it left a bad taste upon his tongue, “But if the Editor had managed to figure out who you three really were, there was no telling what would have become of you, or the TARDIS.”

The Doctor’s frown deepened, but he held his tongue, something that surprised Rose. She would have thought that the Time Lord would have come to her defence, but just like Aries, the brunette seemed to be able to turn the Doctor against her. She shot the brunette a glare before disappearing inside the TARDIS.

“Aries,” the Doctor said after Rose had left, “Do you think you can give me a moment?” he asked, glancing to Ly.

“Yeah, sure,” the red head replied, realising that the Doctor wanted to speak with the brunette alone. She had questions of her own for the man, but there was something about the way she had seen the Doctor looking to the brunette that told her it was better to let her own curiosity go.

The Doctor and Ly watched Aries disappear through the TARDIS door and the moment it closed behind her, the Doctor looked to the brunette.

“How?” he asked.

“How, what?” Ly replied, his smirk returning. “How I managed to stop the Editor, or how am I here?”

The Doctor scowled and the brunette just shook his head.

“Some answers, Doctor, have to be found by living through the questions. Trust me when I say that I have had a fair amount of questions these last few years and it was only until a certain someone slapped me upside the head did I finally see that the answers I had been seeking had been right in front of me the whole time. I was just too narrow-sighted to see them and full of hate to believe them.”

“But-” the Doctor begun, only for the man to cut him off.

“I can say no more, Doctor. I came to find the truth behind those answers and I think I can finally see that maybe not all Time Lords are to be hated,” the brunette looked away as his eyebrows creased slightly, missing the Doctor’s expression turn startled. “I found that maybe, I could actually grow to trust them,” Ly looked back to the Doctor, “And that maybe, I already do trust one.”

The brunette went to walk away, but the Doctor stopped him by grabbing his arm, though he immediately let go when the man stiffened.

“Sorry,” Ly said apologetically, clearing his throat as he looked back to the Time Lord, “Old habits haven’t quite been broken yet.”

The Doctor nodded in understanding. “Ly, what you did upstairs....” he trailed off, unsure if he should ask. If he was right and the brunette was who he thought him to be, did the Doctor, as a Time Lord, really have the right to ask.

Ly nodded his head, a knowing smirk appearing on his face. “I trust that you can keep _that_ little titbit to yourself, Time Lord. I don’t think the universe is quite ready to realise the truth in what you saw. Let them believe what they want,” his gaze went to the humans around them, his nose wrinkling slightly, “And maybe one day, they will be ready to know what really happened. But until then....I trust that you will take care of her, Doctor.”

Without saying another word, Ly turned and headed off again. The Doctor watched him go as he disappeared into the crowd before sighing.

“I’m sorry, Ly,” he muttered before turning to his ship and stepping inside.

Ly paused when he heard the sound of the Doctor’s TARDIS and looked back in the direction he had come. “I’m sorry, Doctor,” he murmured before someone grabbed his arm.

“Can we go now? ‘Cause I really can’t stand this place,” a younger woman questioned, “Let alone the stench, but the food is abysmal. How this is considered ‘fine cuisine’ I don’t know,” she continued to complain, holding up a cronk burger that had only had a small bite taken out of it.

Ly frowned before nodding, “Yes, I’ve seen enough, Vera. Let us go.”

“Finally,” the younger woman exclaimed as she revealed a vortex manipulator, dropping the burger without a second thought.

Placing his hand upon it, Ly glanced one last time in the direction of where the TARDIS had been before the pair disappeared in a flash of light.


	18. Nightmares And Memories

Stepping inside the console room, Aries frowned at Rose as the blonde glared daggers at her. The red head really had no idea why Rose always seemed to dislike her very presence and it was slowly getting tiresome.

It was almost as bad as the way Potter and his mate, Weasley always looked at and spoke about her father and there had been many moments where Aries had wanted to hex them for their blatant disrespect towards not only her father, but a Professor of Hogwarts. But that wouldn’t have ended well at all. Though, it did make Aries regard towards Granger to grow slightly at the way the witch always scolded the two boys at their lack of respect towards a figure of authority.

Rose however....

Aries sighed as the blonde shot her another dirty look before she left the console room and headed further into the TARDIS.

She wasn’t too sure why the blonde could never seem to look at her in a way that wasn’t close the way one regarded something stuck to the bottom of their shoe. She had no idea what she had done to garner such a response from someone and had even tried to just ignore the blonde whenever she was around.

There was a warm hum that rung through the air, causing the red head to glance at the console.

“Something you’d like to add?” she asked, feeling a little foolish talking to the ship like it was a living person, but she also knew that in some way the TARDIS was sentient, however possible that was. And she also got a small feeling of comfort as she did talk to the ship, remembering the same way she use to talk with the many portraits that hung in the halls of Hogwarts, or even the castle itself.

She had known early on how Hogwarts was sentient, and although it never spoke, or hummed for that matter, Aries knew that it was alive in some way.

Whatever the Founders had done while building the castle, they had somehow created a place that was alive with magic. Whether it was the ley lines that passed through where the castle stood, or the Founders magic, they had managed to create a truly sentient castle.

But the TARDIS was not made of magic. It was, as far as Aries knew, an advanced, technological marvel that was also somehow both sentient and telepathic. She didn’t know if the telepathic part was because Time Lord's themselves were telepathic, but it didn’t explain how the ship was also sentient. There were no leys, no magic, nothing that would give something the ability to become sentient and it baffled and amazed Aries.

The lights flashed, drawing Aries' attention and her eyebrow raised when the lights leading out of the console room flickered. She looked back to the console, wondering what the ship wanted her to do, though her only response was the lights to flicker again.

“I, uh,” the red head frowned, glancing to the doors that led outside. Sure, she may have gone on a trip with the Doctor, but she wasn’t too sure if she should be walking around his ship without him being there.

The TARDIS let out another hum and the red head could’ve sworn she felt....no, saw someone roll their eyes in her mind before there was a scent in the air that had her stomach growling immediately.

Unable to help it, Aries flushed with embarrassment and shot the console a half-hearted glare. “That’s playing dirty quidditch," she grumbled.

Her reply was an amused hum as the lights flickered once more and Aries’ frown deepened, still unsure.

“Hey!” the red head exclaimed when the console room was plunged into darkness, the lights having gone out leaving only a light glow from the time rotor as the ship let out another hum.

“Okay, okay,” Aries stated as she flicked her wrist and produced a small, glowing red orb of light that hovered just above her hand as she headed to the corridor that led to the rest of the ship. The only place where the lights were still on.

“Bloody bossy ship,” she muttered as she entered the corridor and dispelled the orb, glaring back into the console room when the moment she left it, the lights blinked back on. The red head couldn’t help but roll her eyes, her lip tugging upwards when there was another amused hum from the TARDIS as she headed to where the delicious scents were coming from, silently marvelling at just how large the ship was.

By the time she had turned down the fourth corridor, Aries finally made it to the kitchen and was quite surprised to see it looked, well....ordinary. A part of her wondered as she checked the room over if the TARDIS, or the Doctor had something to do with why it seemed like the room was pulled directly from a catalogue from a random time during the end of the twentieth century, only to dismiss the thought with a shrug as she found where the smell had been coming from.

The moment Aries opened the oven, her stomach growled and her eyes widened slightly at the sight of the plate sitting inside. It was full of roasted carrots, bell peppers, sweet potato, corn and a few generous slices of what she thought to be lamb and the scents made her mouth water.

“Now this is what I’d call fine cuisine,” the red head murmured as she pulled the plate out, earning another hum from the ship. She glanced up to the ceiling, unsure really where to look to talk with the ship as she asked, “Did you make this?”

The ship didn’t reply and Aries raised an eyebrow as she placed the plate on the table in the middle of the room. Once again she shrugged before turning back around and headed to the bench she had seen some containers for tea and coffee.

Picking up the tea, the red head gave the contents a sniff before wrinkling her nose and shook her head, quickly replacing the lid. “Why is it so hard to find a good tea blend?” she muttered under her breath. It wasn’t that she was picky, okay, maybe she was when it came to her tea, but the ‘tea' she found at the cafe’s and supermarkets never seemed to be able to come even close to the blend her father use to make, no matter how hard she tried.

Unbeknownst to her, the door to the kitchen slid open silently as the Doctor approached and he paused inside the doorway as he watched Aries open a few cupboards, looking for something. The Time Lord raised an eyebrow when a small tin appeared on the table in front of Aries meal and he glanced to the red head before stepping inside the room and picked it up before opening it.

“There’s got to be something better,” Aries murmured as she closed the door to the cupboard she had been looking in before moving to the next one, still oblivious to the Time Lord behind her.

The Doctor looked curiously at the dry tea leaves inside the tin and gave it a sniff, his eyebrows shooting upwards when the aroma coming from the leaves was something he had never come across before. He glanced at the wall of his ship before looking back to Aries as he placed the lid back on top of the tin and cleared his throat.

Aries jumped, spinning on the spot the moment she heard the Doctor and placed a hand against her chest. “By Merlin, Doctor!” she breathed, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. Normally people couldn’t sneak up on her like that, but she had been so engrossed in looking for some better tea that she hadn’t even realised that the Doctor was in the room.

The Doctor looked a little sheepish, not having wanted to scare her like that as he tugged on his ear with his empty hand. “Sorry, but eh,” he held the tin out to her, “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Aries blinked as she lowered her hand, looking at the tin before back to the Time Lord, ignoring the amusement she could feel coming from the TARDIS. “I, uh, thanks,” she said as she stepped forwards and accepted the tin off him.

The Doctor watched her curiously as she opened it and gave it a sniff, his hearts skipping a beat at the sight of her eyes going wide as her expression turned to disbelief as she realised that the tea inside the tin was the exact same blend her father use to make.

“By Salazar....” Aries trailed off, looking back to the Doctor in astonishment, “Where did you get this?” she asked.

“Well, I-" the Doctor begun, only to freeze when he suddenly found himself pulled into a hug from the red head with a quick, “Thank you,” before she dashed back over to the counter where the kettle was.

“You have no idea how hard it is to make this blend. You just _have_ to have some, Doctor,” Aries said as she quickly filled the kettle with water, not even noticing the Doctor still standing there, frozen on the spot as his blue eyes followed her.

“My father always kept his tea recipe hidden from me, telling me I had to figure it out myself, but I could never get my tea to come out the same way he did. I think I got close a few times, but there always seemed to be something missing and I could never work out what it was,” the red head continued to ramble, her excitement clear in her voice, “I was almost to the point of giving up, knowing how hard some of the ingredients are to come by in th....” Aries trailed off as she poured the water into a teapot before shaking her head and added the tea into the pot.

The Doctor frowned and took a step forwards towards his Nesdra, wondering what was wrong before she quickly spun around, causing him to pause.

“How _did_ you get this?” she asked as she handed him back the tin, trying to move away from where her thoughts had been going.

“I, I didn’t,” the Doctor admitted as his eyebrows creased slightly at the change in her tone. He had never seen her so animated and excited before and wondered what had put a damper on her mood.

“Well, whoever did, I really want to thank them,” Aries said, trying to keep her tone light as she moved to the cupboard she had seen plates in and pulled one out, “It has been ages since I’ve had some top quality tea and if it tastes anywhere close to how it smells, I know it’ll have been well worth the wait.”

She placed the plate on the counter before turning to the one on the table and picked it up, taking it to the counter as well before opening a draw and pulled out some cutlery and divided the food between the two plates evenly.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow as Aries placed the plates back onto the table with the cutlery before moving to the teapot and poured two cups, a small, wistful smile appearing on her face as she got a strong whiff of the aromatic liquid.

Turning back to the table, the red head paused, finding the Doctor still standing where she had first seen him, an odd expression on his face as he watched her.

“What?” she asked, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion as she looked down at herself before glancing behind her, wondering if she may have missed something. Not seeing anything amiss, Aries looked back to the Doctor, who’s only response was to look to the table and she followed his gaze.

It took Aries a moment to realise what she had done during her rambling and immediately flushed, embarrassed. “Oh, I didn’t, I....oh, Merlin,” she placed the cups onto the table as she stumbled over her words, “I’m sorry. I didn’t even realise. I shouldn’t have even....”

Aries went to grab one of the plates of food, but the Doctor was quick to stop her by grabbing her hand gently. His action, however, caused the red head to jump, her head snapping in his direction and a worried look flickered across his face at how jumpy his Nesdra was acting.

“It’s okay,” the Doctor said quietly as he let her hand go, “I was just surprised, that’s all.” He looked to the plate of food before back to the flustered red head. “Did you make this yourself?” he questioned as he grabbed one of the cups of tea and sat down.

Watching the Time Lord carefully, Aries shook her head in reply, not trusting herself to speak. She hadn’t even realised that she had plated up some food for the Doctor in her rambling, having been so ecstatic about finally finding a blend of tea that reminded her of home, only for that train of thought to lead where it always did.

Losing her father.

Even after almost ninety years, the wound and pain of losing Severus was as fresh as if it had happened yesterday and Aries couldn’t help but wonder if the pain would ever lessen. She had lost people since arriving in this universe. People she had considered almost friends, comrades, people she had known for just the briefest of moments. Aries had lost them all to the finality of death as she lived on, never seeming to age, never growing older in body but spirit alone.

But none of it compared to the loss and heartbreak she had felt losing Severus Snape that horrible, war-riddled fateful day, oh so long ago in the shambled remains of the Shrieking Shack.

She could still see the look in is obsidian gaze as he lay there in a pool of his own blood as she tried desperately to heal him, praying to any deity out there to just give him a second chance. To just give her enough energy and power to save him. But it wasn’t enough.

Severus Snape had died sending her away to a universe where she knew no-one. To where magic didn’t exist. He had sent her away for her to be happy, to survive, and Aries had tried. She had tried so hard to follow his wish, but what was living without the one whom meant so much to her. The one who saved her life so many times, but none more than the day he had come to the orphanage and adopted her.

He gave her a family, even if it was just the two of them and a few others that had known. He had given her a life she had never thought possible. One of magic, safety, security, but most of all love. It didn’t matter to Aries that others could never have known. It didn’t matter to her that only she, Severus, Albus and Amelia were the only ones to be a part of her true childhood and not the facade they had built to protect not only her, but Severus as well.

That was up until Dumbledore had ordered her father to kill him and ripped her life apart.

\----

_“You utter bastard!” Rieka shouted as she stormed into the Headmaster's office, her red hair whipping around her as her magic reacted to her emotions._

_Dumbledore sat calmly behind his desk, a quill in his hand as he wrote something down on some parchment, barely even glancing at the irate Ravenclaw._

_“You. Will. Look. At. Me!” the red head all but growled out as she made a jester with her hand and the parchment the Headmaster had been writing on burst into flames._

_Dumbledore sighed as he swept his hand over the burning parchment and it disappeared before he finally looked to Rieka. “Miss Lestari, what can I do for you?” he asked, though his question only had Rieka's temper growing._

_“You know full well why I am here, Headmaster,” the red head spat his title, her expression twisting in both hate and disgust, “How dare you ask him to kill you because you couldn’t keep your stupid curiosity to yourself!”_

_“Miss Lestari,” Dumbledore warned, but she was far to gone in her anger to heed his warning tone._

_“Don’t you ‘Miss Lestari’ me, you conniving old man!” she snapped, “My father has done everything you have asked of him, but you’ve taken it too far. I won’t let you damn hi-”_

_“Enough!” Dumbledore shouted as he stood up, his eyes hard as he glared at Rieka, “You speak of things you do not understand. What your father and I have agreed upon is non of your concern, nor business. He took that vow long before you were born and you are way out of line. Now I ask that you leave my office at once.”_

_Instead of listening to the Headmaster, a part of her knowing that she should leave, Rieka's eyes narrowed. “That vow he took,” she laughed bitterly, “You forced him to take it to protect your precious Gryffindor’s, playing it up that you didn’t want Lupin to be condemned for being a werewolf at a school full of children. Children that just happened to let the beast out every full moon to frolic through the grounds.”_

_Her face hardened at Dumbledore’s brief expression of surprise. “My father didn’t need to tell me, Headmaster,” she sneered as if she could read his mind, “He couldn’t per your vow. But he is my father and I know what you did from the moment his mark burned into my skin,” she drew up the sleeve of her right arm and dropped the glamour that laid upon it, revealing the mark that had appeared the moment she became Rieka Snape. “You protected that gang of rampaging lunatics. Protected Black, even though he set my father up to die. And now you ask him to kill you in the name of the Greater Good.”_

_Rieka was breathing heavily by the end of her rant, her chest rising and falling quickly as she glared darkly at Dumbledore._

_“I hope your soul burns for eternity,” she spat before turning on her heel and storming out of his office, leaving the Headmaster to stare after her, wondering if he truly had made the right decision in performing their adoption in the first place._

\----

The Doctor frowned when he realised Aries hadn’t moved, her eyes unfocused as a slight breeze started to blow through the kitchen.

“Aries?” he said as he stood back up, concern written over his face when she didn’t even twitch at hearing her name.

His mind went back to Downing Street as he slowly, carefully took a step towards her, remembering the similar expression that had been on his Nesdra's face at Rose's utter disrespect for human life. And as he stepped up beside her, he carefully reached out to her face, gently turning her head so she was looking at him.

"Aries. It's okay,” he said quietly, feeling her tremble slightly as the breeze picked up. And just like he had done at Downing Street, the Doctor moved his hand from her cheek and grasped her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers.

He didn’t say anything else, just stood there in silence as he hoped that his Nesdra would come back from wherever her mind had taken her. The Time Lord was confused and worried, however. Unlike the last time Aries had been like this, he had no idea what had caused her to be in this state.

It took a few moments, but eventually the Doctor felt Aries' hand tighten around his and he immediately relaxed his grip, knowing what was about to happen.

Just as he predicted, Aries whole body went rigid as she blinked, her eyebrows furrowing when she realised the Doctor was standing beside her. And as she looked down, confusion flickered across her face when she realised their hands were intertwined.

“Sorry. I, uh,” Aries cleared her throat as she quickly let the Doctor's hand go and stepped back, ignoring how his touch seemed to linger on her skin. His scent tickled her nose and there was once again the feeling of familiarity about it, but she quickly pushed it aside.

“It's fine, Aries,” the Doctor told her gently with a small smile. He looked to the table, “Why don’t we eat before it gets cold,” he suggested, dismissing his own curiosity for now as he moved to pull out Aries seat for her.

The red head frowned slightly before she slowly nodded. “I, um....thanks,” she said as she took her seat, glancing to the Doctor as he moved back to his own seat across from her.

She picked up her fork and looked to her plate, not as hungry as she had first been when she had entered the kitchen and moved some food around on her plate. Though when she glanced at the Doctor again, wondering why he wasn’t questioning her about what just happened, Aries flushed slightly when she found him watching her with a raised eyebrow.

She quickly looked back to her plate and pierced a piece of carrot before putting it in her mouth.

Aries missed the Doctor's lip twitched upwards in an amused, though still worried smile as he ate his own food, silently marvelling at how natural it felt to be sharing an unexpected meal with his Nesdra.

\----

“Doctor?” Rose called as she walked down a corridor in the TARDIS, looking for the Time Lord.

She knew he had returned to the ship not long after she had left the console room, but that had been almost twenty minutes ago.

The blonde had been rather hopeful that the Doctor would have dropped Aries off the moment he returned, but both had seemed to have disappeared.

A frown appeared on her face when she heard voices and turned down the corridor they were coming from, only for her frown to deepen when she realised it was coming from the kitchen.

\----

Inside the kitchen, the awkward tension that had been present at the beginning of their meal had slowly faded as the Doctor and Aries silently enjoyed the others company.

“How did you get this tea?” Aries asked after a while, glancing at the Doctor as she placed her cup back down on the table, enjoying the taste and feel of the tea as it warmed her stomach and calmed her nerves.

She was still surprised that he hadn’t questioned her about what had occurred earlier. In fact, it was as if he was waiting for her to bring it up, though she wasn’t sure if she felt comfortable to do so. The red head knew that it would just lead to more questions that she knew she wasn’t ready to answer yet, if at all.

The Time Lord looked to her with a small grin. “Actually, I didn’t. It was the TARDIS,” he replied, nodding to the wall of the kitchen as the TARDIS let out an affirmative hum.

“She did?” Aries questioned in surprise before shaking her head, realising that she really shouldn’t have been surprised. Even Hogwarts had the ability to know what someone wanted, provided they knew how to ask, so it didn’t seem so far-fetched that a sentient, space and time machine would be similar in that regard.

“What?” the Doctor asked curiously, an eyebrow raising slightly.

“Oh, it’s just....” Aries glanced down at her cup of tea, “It shouldn’t have surprised me that she would do something like that. She _is_ sentient after all,” she told the Doctor, a small smile appearing on her face as she felt a warm breeze blow through her hair and a warm, comforting hum in her mind.

The Doctor's eyebrow raised higher with his curiosity. But before he could question Aries by what she had meant, a voice spoke up and he couldn’t help but scowl the moment he noticed his Nesdra's demeanour become less relaxed and immediately guarded as he turned to his companion.

“There you are,” Rose said as she stepped into the kitchen, though she paused and scowled when she saw that they were eating....without her! “I thought _she_ was going home,” she stated, shooting Aries a glare.

The Time Lord was about to say something to his companion, but paused when Aries suddenly stood up, her chair screeching against the floor as it was pushed away from her.

“I don’t know if you ever finished school, Rose Tyler,” the red head said as she levelled her gaze at the blonde, having enough of the younger woman’s attitude, “But most people already know by their first year that others do, in fact, have names. Mine, if you have forgotten, is Aries. I do not know why you seem to have a problem with me, and quite frankly I don’t really care. But you blatant lack of respect towards another is disgusting and rather unbecoming of a lady your age.”

The Doctor's eyebrows flew upwards as he stared at his Nesdra, a sense of pride filling him. All the while Rose looked rather taken aback. The blonde looked to the Doctor for help, though realised once again that she wasn’t going to get any from the Time Lord since it was _Aries_ that was talking to her like that.

Aries turned to the Doctor, “I’m sorry, but I’m suddenly feeling rather tired. If it is no problem with you, I think I might retire.” Her eyebrows creased ever so slightly as she asked, “Is there anywhere that I might be able to rest?”

The Doctor blinked as he processed her words before nodding, wanting to have a few words with his companion as he realised that his and Aries' evening had been ruined by Rose. “Sure. I can show you if you like. I’m certain the TARDIS has a room prepared for you already,” he said as he stood up.

“No, I wouldn’t want to trouble you,” Aries declined, “I’m sure that your ship can show me where it is.”

Before he could stop her, Aries was already leaving the room, sidestepping around Rose who was once again glaring at her.

The moment the door slid shut behind Aries, the Doctor turned to his companion.

“I think we need to talk,” he told the blonde, barely managing to keep the anger from his voice.

\----

As Aries walked down the corridor, following the flickering lights on the walls that she had assumed would lead her to a place she could rest, she couldn’t help but sigh as her thoughts wandered.

As much as she actually enjoyed the short meal she had with the Doctor, finding it more pleasant than she had first thought, Aries really didn’t want to hang around his companion any more than necessary.

It was clear to her that the blonde didn’t want her there, even if the Doctor had shown otherwise and she wondered if it had been a good idea for her to travel with them. Even if it had been for only one trip.

As she turned down another corridor, Aries couldn’t help but think back on her day and how so much had happened, and also how much she had learnt.

Had she known earlier that day what the Doctor had been through, the red head knew she wouldn't have blown up on the Time Lord and she couldn’t help but wince at what she had said to him.

To tell him that he was just like everyone else without even knowing him was unforgivable and she had no idea where those words had come from. She didn’t even know why she had gotten so angry with him and felt ashamed by her actions.

She wanted to say that she was jealous of the fact that the Doctor had taken Rose back to see her father, knowing that there was no way that she could ever see her own again, but it would have been a lie.

Ever since she had met the Doctor all those years ago, there had always been something different about him. Something that had drawn her to him and it had scared her at first. She had tried to brush it off as simple curiosity. Someone new and unknown that had perked her interest.

But even that was a lie.

The way his hand felt around hers. How’s his touch always seemed to linger upon her skin and the way she felt its loss. The coldness she would feel when he would unwrap his arm from around her shoulders. The desire to have his warmth return and urge to grab his hand to provide comfort when something was troubling him.

Aries wasn’t as naive as she had been during the Blitz, and although she had never had a partner before, she understood what those feelings meant. She knew that out of everyone she had ever met in this universe and her old one, somehow she felt something for the most unexpected and unlikeliest person out there.

Last of his kind.

Time traveller.

_Alien._

The red head let out a puff of air before shaking her head, trying to move away from that train of thought. Sure, she may have come to realise that she felt something for the Doctor, but it didn’t mean he felt the same.

How many people did he meet during his travels that would have tried to catch his eye, possibly even trying to get him to stay? How was it even fair to the Time Lord to think that he would want to stay when he had all of time and space to traverse.

 _And besides,_ Aries thought with a sigh as she came upon a plain door that opened as she approached, _He's nine centuries. Probably sees us as children blundering through our lives._

She entered the room, barely even noticing that it was completely bare. The only furnishings being a bed, desk and chair, and another door that led off to a bathroom.

Aries headed straight to the bed, suddenly feeling more tired that she had thought and collapsed on top of it, barely finding the energy to take her shoes and coat off before just curling up on top of the blankets, not even bothering to try and slip under them.

As her eyes closed, her hand found her necklaces and clutched them tightly. “I miss you,” she whispered as she started to drift off.

\----

_Walking the path back to Ravenclaw tower from the library, Rieka paused when she noticed Professor Lupin walking in the hallway ahead, seemingly very pale and his steps hurried._

_“Professor?” she called, though the man didn’t stop. In fact, he quickened his pace._

_Her eyebrows furrowed, unsure as to what she should do. It was a full moon and Rieka knew that even with his potion, Lupin shouldn’t have been out and about. Why Dumbledore had agreed to have the werewolf back on school grounds, let alone teaching mystified her. More so when the Headmaster had given the Defence Against the Dark Arts position to Lupin._

_She went to follow him, but stopped, her expression troubled as she tried to figure out what to do. If it had been any other Professor, she would have followed them without so much confliction, but Lupin was a werewolf and it was a full moon._

_Knowing it was best to inform her father, not wanting to come face to face with an actual werewolf alone, Rieka sent out her patronus to alert him. The tip of her wand lit up before a silver, misty wolf burst from it and bounded down the hallway, heading to wherever her father was at the moment._

_The moment the patronus had disappeared, Rieka swallowed before she headed after Lupin, wondering why the Professor hadn’t locked himself away for the night. Potion or not, he was still a dangerous beast three nights of the month. And from what Rieka had heard and see about his past, letting his more furry side out while Sirius Black was on the loose was only asking for trouble._

_Rieka had barely made it to the doors leading out of the castle before she was stopped by a voice._

_“Miss Lestari,” Professor Snape's voice cut through the silence, causing her to turn towards it, a brief flicker of relief appearing at the sight of her father._

_“Professor,” she replied, “I was just....” she trailed off as he looked past her, his eyes narrowing._

_“I believe the Headmaster is waiting to see you, Miss Lestari,” Severus said as he walked towards the doors. He paused when he just passing Rieka and glanced at her. “I hope I don’t have to tell you not to keep him waiting?”_

_Rieka shook her head before she headed off towards Dumbledore’s office, knowing that the Headmaster needed to know about Lupin. She stopped as she heard the doors close behind her father and glanced back towards them, hoping he was going to be okay before continuing on her way._

\----

_“Rieka, wait up!” a familiar voice called as Rieka quickly made her way towards the Great Hall, three sets of feet following after her “I swear that he didn’t mean it!”_

_Her lip curled upwards in a sneer, though the red head made no inclination to stop walking. There was no way that Rieka wanted anything to do with the ‘Golden Trio' after what that damnable weasel had tried to do._

_Did he really think that she was that stupid? That she wouldn’t notice when her food had been tampered with?_

_Someone grabbed her arm, causing Rieka to come to a halt and she spun towards them, wand in her hand and pointed at the persons throat._

_Weasley's eyes widened in alarm and surprise and he swallowed heavily, feeling the tip of Rieka's wand against his throat. Potter and Granger skidded to a stop, having tried to stop him from doing anything rash but hadn’t succeeded._

_“You are a despicable, disgusting and downright disgraceful human being, Ronald Weasley. Let alone a wizard. You dare try and drug me and then wave it off like it was nothing, not even having the balls to apologise.”_

_Rieka’s gaze flickered to the wizards two friends, who were staring at her like deer in headlights. “Do you not think I wouldn’t know what a love potion smelt like?” she turned her gaze back to Weasley, “That I wouldn’t think to check something clearly labelled from your brothers joke shop?”_

_"It was only a joke," Weasley stammered, "Just thought you needed to lighten up a bit. You're worse than 'Mione, always with your head stuck in a bo-"_

_Rieka's expression darkened as the tip of her wand pressed harder against Weasley's throat, cutting him off. "So, you thought that giving me a potion would make me lighten up. That I would pull my head from my studies and get a life?" she asked, her tone almost murderous._

_From the corner of her eye, Rieka could see Granger and Potter turn their heads towards Weasley, their expressions turning from shock to disbelief and anger._

_“Do they know who you tried to ‘help’ me get a life with?” she continued, nodding to the others, “That you used the love potion as a way to get rid of your competition? Does Granger know the real reason Mclaggen had suddenly left her alone? That you promised him an ‘in' with someone who supposedly needs to get a life?”_

_“Ronald!” Granger shouted, her disbelief turning more angry by the second._

_Before any more words could be said from any of them, Rieka's wand went flying from her hand and she dropped her arm as she felt the warm presence of her father brush against her mind._

_“Is there a reason why your four are here, and not in the Great Hall enjoying your breakfast before classes begin?” Severus Snape asked as he stepped into view, his dark gaze locked onto Weasley before they flickered to Potter and Granger, all whom had turned pale at the presence of the Potions Master._

\----

_Rieka circled above the grounds, searching for her father. Her keen eyes not missing anything and as she passed above the Whomping Willow, she found it rather odd that the tree seemed suspiciously motionless._

_She had gone straight to the Headmaster to inform him of Lupin out in the grounds, only to have been hit with a feeling of dread the longer she spoke to Dumbledore._

_He must have realised something was bothering her, for he had told her to find them, but only to observe until he got there and not to give herself away._

_Rieka had no idea what the Headmaster was doing, but hoped he would appear soon. As she banked and turned back to the Willow, Rieka spotted movement at the base of the tree. She glided overhead silently, watching in utter disbelief as Remus Lupin_ and _Sirius Black scrambled out of the hidden entrance that led to the Shrieking Shack._

_But if that wasn’t enough, with them were the Golden Trio, along with....Peter Pettigrew?_

What in Merlin’s name is going on, _Rieka thought as she saw Lupin aiming a wand at Pettigrew as Potter and Black were talking quietly amongst themselves,_ And where is my father?

_“Harry!” Granger called, before pointing to the full moon, drawing everyone’s attention to it and Rieka's eyes somehow grew wider as her gaze snapped back to Lupin._

_Without even thinking, she dived, heading straight for Lupin as Black quickly approached the changing Professor. Letting out a piercing screech, talons outstretched, Rieka tried to use her momentum to force Lupin back, causing Sirius to duck less he be hit as well._

_Sirius ignored her as Rieka circled back around, intent on going in for another attack as he tried to get Lupin to listen to him, only for the animagus to spot something._

_In the commotion, Pettigrew managed to pick up the wand Lupin had dropped and aimed it at the changing Professor and Black, but the moment he did so, it vanished from his hand as a black owl shot past him, the wand now clutched in Rieka's talons and just avoiding Potter's disarming spell._

_As she circled back around for the third time, wondering worriedly where her father was, Rieka noticed that Pettigrew was no longer there, while Black continued to try and talk some sense into Lupin._

_Lupin let out a shout as the change took him, his voice becoming more deeper and almost a growl by the end. Sirius still hadn’t let him go and Rieka wondered if he was trying to hold back Lupin's change as he bear hugged the almost werewolf, shouting at the trio to run._

_His efforts were in vain, however, as the now fully formed werewolf tossed him aside like he was a rag doll and much to her horror and disbelief, the trio, who were slowly moving off, suddenly came to a halt as Granger told them to wait._

Does she have a bloody death wish? _Rieka wanted to shout as the younger witch approached Lupin cautiously, calling out his name._

_She felt as though her blood went cold as the werewolf let out a howl and the wand she had been holding slipped from her grasp as she stared at the beast that had been her Professor, her wings barely keeping her airborne._

_Movement jostled the animagus from her thoughts and she almost chirped in delight at the sight of her father, though she was quick to realise that something was wrong. He didn’t even seem to realise there was a werewolf present as he headed straight to the trio._

Father, no! _She called out to him mentally as she dived, the need to protect her father overwhelming her fear of the beast that stood below._

_Severus looked up, his eyes wide at the sight of Rieka as she shot passed overhead and he spun on the spot as he heard her screech mingle with a growl. “Nox!” he shouted as she attempted to fend off the beast._

_Rieka attacked anything she could reach, her talons shredding and gouging into the werewolf flesh as her razor sharp beak tore at his ears and muzzle. She was suddenly thrown off balance as the beast was hit in the side by Black, the man having taken on his own animagus form to try and stop his friend._

_“Nox, inform the Headmaster!” she heard her father shout at her as she tried to regain her senses, though everything seemed to be blurry and out of focus. She managed to gain some altitude, however when she looked back down at the scene below, she grew confused._

_Rieka's confusion only grew as she suddenly dived, dodging a beam of blue light that just missed her and she gave a squawk of surprise when she found herself surrounded by rubble and debris. Smoke and ash filled the air as more beams of light appeared around her._

What the....? _she thought as she flapped her wings, her eyes darting this way and that, trying to understand what she was seeing._

_People were running below, some with children, some alone, but the animagus could feel their fear as they fled. She wondered what they were running from, only to feel as though the wind had been ripped from her as an all to familiar voice screeched through the air._

_“Exterminate!”_

_Rieka suddenly found herself falling, having shifted forms without even being aware she had done so and landed on the ground with a ‘thump’. She groaned, brushing her red hair from her face as she looked around, slowly getting to her feet._

_She turned around, only to startle when she came face to face with an older man with piercing brown eyes, a gun in his hands as he looked at her....through her._

_Rieka frowned as she stepped to the side, finding the man didn’t even seem to realise she was there and turned to look at what he was staring at, only to blink in surprise at what she saw._

_A lone wall that was still standing amongst the rubble had two words written in it and the red head couldn’t help but grow confused and unsure as she read them._

_“No more....” she frowned and turned back to the man, only to find he was gone._

_In fact, she found herself inside her father’s classroom. The room empty except for herself and her father as Severus marked some possibly highly atrocious assignments, his quill flying over the parchments as his expression seemed to get darker the further he marked._

_“I swear, these students get more stupid as the years pass,” he sighed, dropping his quill and pinching the bridge of his nose. He glanced to Rieka, “How is your potion coming along?” he queried, standing up from his chair and moving around the desk._

_Rieka blinked and looked down in front of her, only to blink again as she found a cauldron before her, a potion with a mother-of-pearl sheen already finished and half bottled, steam rising from the leftover potion in characteristic swirls._

_“Just decanting it now,” she told him as she put the stopper in the vial she was holding, rather glad that her father had warded the room to expel the potions fumes._

_Severus nodded as he came over to inspect her work, picking up one of the vials she had already filled. “And what does it smell like?” he asked, not looking away from the vial he was inspecting, but she swore his lip quirked upwards slightly._

_Rieka found her cheeks warming as she begun filling the beaker that was to be left for Slughorn, trying not to think of the potions smell. If anything, it confused her. Amortentia was supposed to produce a smell unique to each person, giving off the scent of what that person truly desires, but to Rieka, it seemed to be changing._

_“I am....unsure,” she admitted when Severus turned to her, quirking an eyebrow. Her eyebrows furrowed as she placed the beaker on the bench. “It changes, like....I don’t know,” she huffed, blowing a short strand of her hair from her face before tucking it behind her ear._

_“Hrn?”_

_“It seems to smell of old books, some sort of muggle engine oil, and something else like sweet electricity, almost like what I smell whenever I use my time-turner,” her eyebrows furrowed, “But there’s another scent. It keeps changing. At first I thought it was sugar, like those odd confectioneries that were shaped like little people, but then the next moment it smelt of, well....celery of all things.”_

_Rieka's shoulders slumped as she stared at the potion. “Maybe I brewed it wrong,” she muttered as she looked to her father, only to earn a snort from the man._

_“I’ve spent long enough teaching you to know that if you were to have brewed this wrong,” he held the vial towards Rieka and she took it off him, “That the Mastery you have almost finished would have been a terrible waste of not only my time, but yours as well. Do not doubt yourself, Rie.”_

_Rieka nodded as she turned back to the rest of the potion, just as she found the scent to have changed again. Now, it smelt of leather and her eyebrows creased as there was something familiar about it. Something she just couldn’t remember._


	19. Beginning To Understand A Complicated Man

When Aries woke, she found that somehow she had gotten herself tangled in the blanket. She managed to free a hand to rub her face tiredly, feeling rather exhausted even after her sleep. It had been a few months since she had experienced nightmares but gathered that what she had gone through the day before, it had been rather expectant. More so as her thoughts had drifted more around her father than anything else since hearing what Rose had done.

With a sigh, she managed to get herself untangled and sat up. The lights in the room brightened and Aries blinked before a small smile appeared on her lips. “Thanks,” she said to the ship as she pushed herself off the bed and looked around, finding the room to be quite scarce of anything.

“I guess this is the bathroom,” she muttered as she headed to the door near the back of the room, taking her coat off and draping it over the chair that was in front of the desk.

It didn’t take her long at all to get cleaned up, and thanked the TARDIS once again when she found her clothes had been cleaned and left on the counter of the bathroom. As she dried her hair, Aries glanced at her bare right wrist and frowned before her eyes flashed and the glamour she kept on it disappeared, revealing a tattoo-like mark on her forearm. It shimmered in the light, looking as though it faded in and out as she ran a finger over it, tracing the initials that were on either side of a crest.

On one side had her father’s initials, S.S. with a snake curling around them before a great cat appeared, all teeth and claws. The other were what she had been told were her own initials, L.S., with a wolf howling before it changed to an infinity symbol.

Aries couldn’t help but once again find it rather ironic that her boggart had been a werewolf, whereas the meaning behind her name and the corporeal form of her patronus were both a wolf. _Well, I still think it's a wolf,_ she thought and shook her head before she continued to dry her hair.

Ever since she had lost her father, Aries hadn’t actually attempted casting her patronus. It wasn’t like there was anyone she would send it to, and anytime she had thought about summoning it just for a bit of company, it had only brought on the memories of what she had lost. A part of her was afraid it had changed and was scared to lose another part of who she had once was, and so she just never performed the spell.

Letting out a frustrated sigh as she stared at her still damp hair in the mirror, Aries' eyes flickered to the ceiling and back before she placed the towel on the counter and ran her hands through her hair, drying it with a little magic before pulling it up into a ponytail.

“You’re not gonna tell him, are you?” she asked as she summoned a hairband from her coat that was still in the bedroom. The ship stayed silent and Aries couldn’t help but snort at the TARDIS's rather Slytherin tactic, a small smile appearing on her face. “My father would have told you that you would be worthy of Slytherin,” she muttered, earning an amused hum from the ship, “Though I am unsure as to how he would have reacted to a sentient space/time machine that could read his thoughts,” she added with a frown.

When she was certain she was done with her hair, the red head left the bathroom and grabbed her coat before heading out of the room.

“Do you know where the Doctor is?” she asked out loud as she walked down a corridor, “I should be getting home and....” she trailed off with a frown when the lights dimmed and she got a sense that the TARDIS wasn’t too happy with her words. “Look, I need to get back to them,” she explained, “It has been far to long as it is and there’s no telling what could be happening right now.”

The TARDIS let out an unimpressed hum and the lights in the corridor flickered off, leaving Aries in darkness.

“Oh, come on,” she moaned, her shoulders slumping as she stared into the darkness, wondering how she had managed to upset a sentient space ship.

“Perfect, just perfect, Aries. You just had to get her upset with you,” she grumbled to herself under her breath as she rested a hand against the wall of the corridor, using it as a guide as she walked.

She had taken only a half a dozen steps when she paused, the wall under her hand having changed texture, becoming as smooth as polished metal, though did not feel like metal. Aries' eyebrows both raised and furrowed in confused curiosity as she ran her fingers along what felt like a seam, finding that it went all the way to the floor.

Following it back up till she was standing, the red head frowned as she placed her hand back against what she guessed was a door and ran it across the surface, feeling slight but smooth indentations on the unknown surface, almost as if there had been something carved into the door.

She traced a finger along one of the indentations, trying to work out what it could be, though the moment she thought of using her magic to provide light, she pulled away from the door sharply with a hiss when her finger came across something sharp on the door.

“What the....” the red head muttered as she tried to get a look at her finger, only for her eyes to widen and look back to the door as the carving she had been tracing started to glow a dim red in the darkness, revealing what looked to be the life cycle of a wolf as the dim light slowly spread.

“Why is it dark in here?” a familiar female voice questioned, causing Aries to jump and turn away from the door, just as the lights flickered back on and caused the red head to blink rapidly at the sudden brightness.

“Oh, of course it's you,” Rose huffed as she stepped into the corridor where Aries was standing, something clutched in her hands. “And here I was hoping the Doctor had already dropped you off,” she added under her breath.

“Good morning to you too,” Aries said with a roll of her eyes, having heard the blondes comment, though decided to just ignore it. She turned back to the door, only to find it was no longer there, just a normal corridor wall and she frowned.

“Do you know where the Doctor is?” Rose asked, barely getting a glance from Aries as she tried to work out what she had seen in the darkness.

“Wouldn’t have a clue,” the red head replied, “I was actually looking for him myself.”

“And what, got lost?” Rose snorted as she watched Aries run her hand over the wall, “That’s a wall, if you didn’t know.”

Aries inhaled deeply, trying to keep calm and felt and almost warm hum in her mind as the TARDIS tried to help. She turned back to Rose, “Oh, I know it’s a wall, Rose. But if you didn’t know, this is a TARDIS. Stands for Time And Rela....Oh, that’s what you were trying to tell me,” she looked to the ceiling and the ship let out a hum of agreement.

“What the hell are you going on about?” Rose asked rudely, glancing at the ceiling as well. She had heard the ship hum or make odd noises when the Doctor was around and didn’t like the fact that the TARDIS seemed to actually be doing the same with Aries when he wasn’t.

“Sorry, girl. Should have remembered. Lot on my mind though,” Aries continued to talk with the ship before looking back to Rose. “As I was saying, this is a TARD-”

“I know what it is!” Rose cut in with a huff.

Aries just raised an eyebrow at her attitude. “And so, you would know that she is sentient, then?” she asked, “And that as a sentient being, she is able to make things appear and disappear....like a door for instance.”

And as if on cue, a set of large doors appeared behind Aries, causing Rose's eyebrows to shoot upwards.

\----

“Come on, where is it,” the Doctor muttered as he rummaged through a piles of books on the table before him, causing some stacks to topple over in his search and he winced. “I swear I remember seeing it here.”

Most of the books were written in languages that were older than the Time Lord himself. But he was looking for one in particular. One his ship had always refused to translate.

He remembered finding it centuries ago, an old handwritten, weathered book that had immediately caught his attention with the fact it was the only one he couldn’t read. But after trying for what felt like days to get his ship to translate what was written, even going as far as trying to do it himself, the Doctor had put it back on its shelf and forgotten about it.

But after encountering Ly on Satellite Five, it had sparked the memory and brought it to the forefront of his mind, realising why his TARDIS had never translated it. She couldn’t have because she had never seen the language before.

He had heard, just like every other ancient beings in the universe, the whispered tales of the _D_ _railvec imk Rauv_ as a child. But no one knew who they were. No one had even believed that they had even existed, believing the tales to be just that.

Tales and bedtime stories.

The Doctor had never really put much thought into the stories, not believing that the Time Lords could cause an entire race to just disappear to protect themselves, and the items they guarded. But the Doctor now had the proof to believe otherwise.

He just needed to find that book.

 _“What the hell are you going on about?”_ he heard his companion ask and his head jolted upwards at her tone, missing a book that was in the pile he was just about to search through disappear, another replacing it.

His eyes narrowed as he realised the TARDIS was letting him hear what was going on just outside the library and he wanted to let out a groan of frustration at how his little _chat_ with Rose hadn’t seemed to stop her from treating his Nesdra any better.

 _“Sorry, girl. Should have remembered. Lot on my mind, though,”_ Aries voice sounded and it confused the Doctor, causing him to wonder just what was on his Nesdra's mind.

It was true that Aries hadn’t really seemed to be herself when he had found her inside the kitchen almost eight hours ago, but it looked to be that whatever was on her mind was still troubling her.

_“As I was saying, this is a TARD-”_

_“I know what it is!”_ Rose cut Aries off and the Doctor couldn’t help but bristle at her tone as he straightened and headed towards the door, he search all but forgotten.

 _“And so, you would know that she is sentient, then?”_ Aries replied as the Doctor got closer to the doors, _“And that as a sentient being, she is able to make things appear and disappear....like a door for instance.”_

The moment he heard those words, the Doctor opened the doors and stepped into the corridor, surprising Aries in the process as she hadn’t actually thought that a door would have appeared with her words.

Rose's face paled, however when the Doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow, his expression frankly disapproving.

“Doctor!” Aries exclaimed, shooting a glare to the ship as there was an amused hum that rang through the air. “Could have used a little warning,” the red head muttered under her breath and causing the Time Lord to chuckle when he noticed her expression.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” he said with a grin before nodding to the wall of the ship, “And she does like playing pranks. Keeps her entertained, I think.”

“Just a bit,” Aries murmured, causing the Doctor to raise a curious eyebrow at her and a hum to sound through the corridor as the lights flickered.

“Doctor?” Rose spoke up from behind Aries, causing the Time Lord to glance at her questionably. The blonde swallowed before she continued, “I was wondering if....well. If I could see my father?”

Aries froze at Rose's question, turning to the blonde and seeing her looking at something in her hand. It took her a moment to realise it was a photo frame before something else hit her.

This....this was before the Doctor and Rose appeared at the church. Before Rose had saved her father and caused those beasts to be released, and Aries knew that there was no way she could stop what had already happened from happening. No matter how much she wanted to change what had occurred at the church, it had already happened and to change any more could possibly turn the entire situation into a bigger catastrophe.

The Time Lord frowned at his companion, wondering how she thought she even had the right to ask such a thing after the way she had been treating Aries. The way she had spoken to his Nesdra while they had been at Number Ten had been atrocious to say the least.

Before he could voice any of his thoughts, Aries spoke up and caused his eyes to snap to her, all thoughts of Rose's question going out the window. “Before you do that, do you think you could drop me home?” the red head asked. Seeing his expression, she was quick to add, “There are some things I need to do, and besides, it was only one trip.”

The Doctor swallowed, wanting to go back and hit his past self for offering Aries only one trip. He should have realised that _she_ out of all people would take him at his word and internally cursed himself for his stupid blunder.

Neither noticed the triumphant gleam that had appeared in Rose's eyes as she watched them, waiting for the red head to leave. Had she had realised it would have been this easy to get rid of the red head, she would have brought up her father earlier.

“Are....are you sure?” the Doctor questioned, not wanting her to leave. But he couldn’t force her to stay either. A small part of his mind was telling him that she needed to leave so they could meet up again, so Aries could meet him for the first time, but he didn’t want to listen to it.

Aries bit her lip before nodding, not really wanting to leave, but knowing she couldn’t stay. “I’m sure.”

The Doctor straightened, glancing at his companion before looking back to Aries, not wanting to show how much her leaving was affecting him. “If your certain?” he asked, giving his Nesdra one last chance to change her mind, but already knowing she wouldn’t.

Aries, by this point, actually contemplated saying yes. But her thoughts shifted to Mickey and Luka and she knew she had to get back to them. She just had to figure a way to get the Doctor to drop her off without knowing exactly where he was dropping her of-

Oh....

 _But would it work?_ she asked herself when she realised she may have a way, _Magic and technology don’t always mix well, and there’s no telling what would happen if the TARDIS lands there._

There was an echo of a hum in her mind, causing Aries to glance away from the Doctor and to the wall of the ship, wondering if the ship knew what she was thinking. Her eyebrows furrowed when the hum appeared again before she looked back to the Doctor.

“Yeah. I’d love to stay,” she replied, her words truthful, “But, I really must be getting back.”

\----

As Rose, the Doctor and Aries made their way to the console room, Rose was openly smirking. She trailed behind the others so they wouldn’t see it, however. The blonde was rather ecstatic that Aries was leaving, though she was still rather annoyed by the other woman’s presence. She still couldn’t believe that the Doctor had actually spoken to her, warning her that if her behaviour didn’t improve that she would end up back at home.

Her smirk disappeared quickly though, as the moment the Doctor and Aries stepped into the console room, the doorway vanished, leaving her walking straight into a wall.

\----

It was less than ten minutes later when Aries stepped inside her lab, the door sliding closed behind her and disappearing from view. It was one of the many charms that she had placed around the area, wanting to keep the place a secret from anyone and everyone.

There was a squawk and a small smile appeared on Aries face as she walked over to a perch near a charmed window.

“Hello, Azure,” she greeted, running her fingers over the head of the hawk resting on the perch, “Haven’t seen you in a while. Keeping yourself busy?” she asked before pulling out a stunned mouse from a charmed chest that sat on the desk under the window and offering it to the bird.

It had been a few months back when she had first found the hawk, barely old enough to be out of his nest. She had brought it back to her lab, feeling a little nostalgic and missing her old owl familiar. Ever since then, the hawk, dubbed Azure by the small flecks of blue in his eyes, had been a welcome guest in her lab.

The bird was quick to dig into her offering and Aries shook her head at him with a chuckle before heading towards her main workbench that was littered with paperwork and odds and ends. She sighed, collapsing onto the stool and ran a hand through her hair.

Tomorrow, she would be seeing the Doctor again and she didn’t know what she was going to tell him, or even if he would know where she had gone when she had disappeared from the church.

He had seemed reluctant, sad even when she had told him where she wanted to go, and although it had seemed the ship had taken to pilot herself as to not reveal exactly where, the red head was unsure as to how to feel about leaving herself.

A part of her had wanted to stay with him, the offer of another trip so very tempting, but she knew she couldn’t keep running. She had to make sure that Luka and Mickey were okay and safe, as well as try and find a way to stop whatever those creatures were.

And then there was the reason behind the whole mess to begin with. The reason behind the creatures appearing and threatening the entire planet.

Rose Tyler.

Though she now understood part of the reasoning behind why the Doctor had brought Rose back to see her father, there was still the problem behind her saving him and the uncomfortable feeling as to how to fix the blondes mess was still gnawing at Aries’ heart.

How could she condemn a man to death, even though she understood that Pete Tyler would have died anyway? How could she even begin to explain to Mickey and Luka that their ‘uncle' would pass? The whole reason she had even agreed to take Luka to the wedding was to shelter him from his own grandmothers slow demise, only to now have him live through someone else’s death.

Azure landed on Aries shoulder and nipped at her hair, drawing her from her thoughts. She glanced at the bird and smiled, giving his feathers a nice scratch before sighing.

“Guess I better get some work done,” she muttered as she pulled some of the papers towards her and picked up a pen. “What do you think of calling it Compromised Atmosphere Software?” she asked the bird, “CAS for short.”

Before she could even write the first word down, her entire lab was doused in darkness and Azure let out a screech before taking off. Aries was already on her feet, her eyes swirling at the possibility of a threat inside the one place she had never expected.

As the light slowly returned, her eyes widened as the same vortex she had seen in the museum was now inside her lab before they narrowed as a brunette stepped through.

“Hello Rieka, I think we need to talk.”

Before she could even think of a response, or even a spell, Aries' world once again went black as she fell to the floor unconscious after being hit in the back by something.

“Oh, maybe a bit too much?” a younger brunette said as she stepped towards the unconscious red head as another vortex closed behind her.

“It's fine, Vera. I know she will understand when she remembers,” the older brunette stated as she rubbed the back of her head, looking at Aries sadly.

“He really wasn’t happy,” Vera stated as she checked Aries pulse, just to make sure she didn’t accidently overdo it. She sighed in relief when she felt a strong and steady beat before looking up to the older brunette.

“No, he really wasn’t,” was the brunette’s reply before she helped Vera support Aries between them.

“As I recall, neither of them really were,” Vera huffed, shaking her head as she glanced at both Aries and the older brunette, “ _Carnya_ , you are one very complicated person with some serious anger issues.”

The older brunette just snorted before they disappeared in a burst of flames the moment Eildrim landed on her shoulders.

\----

The Doctor sat on one of the pews in the church, staring blankly ahead at nothing as the humans bustled around him. He didn’t know what to do. What to feel. Aries, his Nesdra was gone, along with his ship and he felt lost.

Cold.

Alone.

His fingers curled around the cold, silver key in his hand until his knuckles turned white, wanting nothing more than to have them back. His Nesdra. His TARDIS. The only things he had left of his past. His home.

Gallifrey was lost, by his own hand and when he thought he had been given a second chance. A life he had thought he would never get. It....Aries had been ripped away from him before their life could even begin.

 _All because of Rose Tyler,_ he thought angrily, his eyes narrowing and muscles tensed. But not a moment later, the Time Lord closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping. _No,_ he continued to think, _I’m as much to blame as Rose is. If I hadn’t agreed to bring her back, Aries would still be here._

He could vaguely hear Rose and her father arguing, but gave them no mind. Aries had been right. It had been absolutely foolish to think that given the chance, Rose wouldn’t have saved her father.

Had he himself not sat for hours, days....months inside his ship, wondering if he could have done anything different to save his people? Had he not thought about going back to change what he had done? And he knew that Aries had lost people, had even possibly thought the same thing. But she....the Doctor sighed. She had known it was impossible, foolish even to go back.

She never said it, but he had seen it in her eyes while he had been explaining what he and Rose had done. It had been brief and he had almost missed it, but he had seen the pain, surprise and almost longing before it had been pushed away and hidden behind her anger.

 _Gods, she had been so angry. So hurt,_ the Doctor thought as he looked back down at the key in his hand, _And then to think she had apologised when she had nothing to apologise for._

“Aries,” he whispered. A wish. A pray. Just hoping she was okay. He couldn’t....wouldn’t believe that she was gone.

 _“You know where she went, Doctor,”_ the brunettes words played in his mind, almost taunting him. But he had no idea where his Nesdra had gone. How was he suppos....

_“It was black and gold. Well, more black than gold and it also felt as though the wind had been knocked from me whe....”_

“No,” the Doctor breathed, his eyes going wide before they shot to where the vortex that Aries had stepped through had been. “But that’s not possible,” he continued, quickly getting to his feet as his hand closed around the TARDIS key, hope igniting in his hearts.

She had been sent back. Back to Van Statten's museum. Back to him.

“But why?” he said aloud, his eyebrows creasing.

“To save her, of course,” a voice spoke up from behind the Doctor and he spun on his heel, only to freeze at the sight of an unknown male standing in front of him. He had short black hair and green-grey eyes, wearing a dark blue, almost black suit.

“How?” the Doctor asked, not even bothering to question who the man was. All that was running through his mind was why Aries had been sent to him and how. How had the brunette managed to create a portal through time and space to send Aries to 2012.

The man smirked, “Now, that would be revealing secrets, Doctor,” he said, causing the Time Lord to frown.

“Oh _V_ _anla_ , stop teasing him,” another voice said, her tone laced with humour and the Doctor turned to see the brunette that had created the vortex approach them. She smiled softly at the Doctor as his eyebrows creased, realising he didn’t actually understand the word she had called the blonde as well as the feeling that something was off about the brunette. Something almost wrong and discomforting.

“Aries is safe,” she continued as she stepped beside the male, “In fact, she just arrived outside a few seconds ago.”

The Doctor's eyes widened as his head turned towards the church doors, missing the man shake his head and raising an eyebrow at the brunette at his side.

“Go,” he told the Time Lord, “I’m sure she needs to see that you’re alright as well.”

The Doctor looked back to the pair, his eyes landing on the brunette before quickly sliding to the man, unable to stand the wrongness that was coming from her. It made it hard for him to look at the woman, even for the briefest amount of time.

“Who are you?” he asked, his eyes still on the black-haired man.

The man smirked, causing the Doctor to blink at how familiar it seemed, though he couldn’t pinpoint why. “I’m just an old friend,” he replied before nodding to the doors. “Aries should be back by now, since Pete has....” he cleared his throat, shifting slightly, “Well, he did the right thing in the end.”

The Time Lord frowned as he looked around, realising that both Pete and Rose were no longer in the church. In fact, it seemed rather empty. He gave the odd pair one last look before going to search for his Nesdra, hoping they were right.

The man watched the Doctor leave before sighing as he wrapped an arm around the brunette and glanced at her. “It's good to see you smiling again,” he murmured as he gently grabbed her left wrist and brushed his thumb across it, causing a golden vine-like mark to appear, “Your _V_ _anei_ and _S_ _eir_ would been so proud of how far you’ve come.”

“It....” the brunette swallowed as she leant into the mans side, watching the Doctor disappear through the church doors. “It was a long road, _V_ _anla_. But worth every bump I came across. I’m grateful that you were there to help me see the truth, even when I didn’t know you were there, or how much of a stubborn git I was.”

The black-haired man chucked as he squeezed her shoulders in comfort before pulling her into a hug, inhaling her scent almost as if it was the last time he would ever get the chance. “I’m sorry I wasn’t always there for you, _F_ _arne_ ,” he whispered.

“You were there when I needed you in the end, and that’s all that matters to me,” the brunette replied before tightening her hold, “I miss you, Father. And I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you back.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Lydeth,” he muttered into her hair, “I never blamed you and would do it a thousand times over if it meant you could return home.”

The brunette's eyes closed as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Sometimes I hate being a _Drail_ ,” she said as she pulled away slightly to look at her father, “Its hard to imagine that you always knew what was coming.”

Lydeth's father cupped her cheek, his lip twitching upwards slightly. “All power comes at a price, _F_ _arne_ ,” he told her as he wiped away her tear before grabbing her wrist gently once again, “And none more so than the knowledge of the future.” He traced a ruin over her bare wrist, above the golden mark and a small bracelet shimmered into view with a green stone infused into the metal.

Lydeth smiled slyly, “It’s not yours,” she said, causing her father to raise an eyebrow as he looked back up to her. “It's....sort of, on loan.”

Her father snorted, shaking his head. “Make sure you return it to where it is supposed to be,” he said before stepping back.

Lydeth nodded as she placed her hand over the bracelet, causing it to vanish from sight.

“I have to go,” her father said, his smile fading somewhat, “Dax is quite a handful and possibly already driving Jack around the bend, as you should well know,” he looked to her pointedly, causing her to flush.

“He....he will come round eventually. Just needs to realise that Jack only wants to help him,” she said before looking at her father sadly, “Will I see you again?”

Her father smirked, his eyes sparkling with amusement, “Spoilers,” he said before vanishing.

Lydeth stood there for a moment longer, staring at where her father had been before shaking her head, a small smile making its way onto her face. “Sometimes I hate River,” she muttered before revealing a vortex manipulator on her right wrist and disappeared as well.

\----

Aries stepped out of a vortex, the sad smile that had been on her face turning confused as she found herself outside of the church. Something rolled down her cheek and she frowned as she brushed a finger against her cheek and pulled it away to look at it when she realised it was wet.

 _Crying? Why am I crying?_ she thought, her confusion only growing as she felt the answers slip through the grey matter that made up her mind. Tantalising close. On the tip of her tongue, but at the same time just out of reach.

Her confusion grew even further as she realised she was carrying something. She glanced down at her hand and blinked in surprise. “Why do I have a fez?” she questioned aloud, looking at the red headwear as her eyebrows furrowed together.

Before she could think on why she was holding a fez, two small objects suddenly collided into her and clung to her sides tightly.

“Aunty, we thought we lost you,” Luka sobbed and Aries smiled at the two boys, managing to pop the fez on the older boys head as she knelt before them, causing Luka to tilt his head up, trying to see the headwear.

“Nothing could keep me away from either of you,” she soothed the boys as she produced a handkerchief from nowhere and getting a small giggle from the pair as she wiped away their tears. “Now, pray tell me that you two haven’t managed to get into trouble,” she said as she glanced around for anymore of those creatures.

Seeing none, Aries let out a sigh before her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed that people were gathering on the street, a car stopped not far from them. She inhaled sharply before standing up and started to usher the boys back inside the church, recognising the vehicle to be the same one she had seen appearing and disappearing.

“We _were_ good,” Mickey told her with grin, not even noticing what Aries was trying to do as he held up his arm that had the silver band on it. He was just happy to have his aunty back. “Look what I got,” he said excitedly, showing off his gift.

“That’s very nice, little mouse,” the red head replied distractedly as she saw Rose kneeling next to her father through the crowd of wedding guests, seeing that the ones that were taken by the creatures had returned.

As much as she didn’t like the blonde, her heart went out to Rose, knowing what it was like to see a loved one die. Though for some unknown reason, Aries felt another tear roll down her cheek as she felt both grief and happiness, knowing it had nothing to do with Rose, or Pete, but something else entirely. She just didn’t know what.

“What is it, aunty?” Luka questioned as he noticed the gathering as well, trying to peek over his shoulder to get a better look.

Before she could even think of a response, the church doors were flung open and the Doctor froze at the sight of her. “Aries,” he breathed, his hearts beating faster in his chest at the sight of his Nesdra alive and well.

Aries couldn’t explain why, but at the sight of the Doctor, she was overwhelmed with the sense of relief and sadness. Though was once again unable to explain why. She shook her head, pushing her confused emotions away. “Doctor,” she replied with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I thought I....” the Doctor begun, only to trail off when he noticed Aries' tears, “Are you okay?” he asked in concern taking a step towards her, wanting to hug her. Hold her and never let go. The thought that he had lost her had shaken him to the core and he never wanted to experience that feeling again.

Aries nodded, glancing down to Luka and Mickey as they stared at the Doctor. “I’m fine. Just had to make sure there two trouble makers were keeping their nose out of mischief,” she replied, her lip twitching upwards ever so slightly at the boys when they pouted.

The Time Lord chuckled at their expressions, raising an eyebrow at the fez that Luka was wearing and causing the boy to quickly put his hand atop of it, almost as if he thought the Doctor would take his new, and quickly favourite hat. The Doctor glanced at Aries, realising why she had wanted to return home after their last adventure and once again found her compassion for others quite light heartening and rather endearing.

“So, who might you two be?” he questioned the boys, though before either could answer, another voice cut in as someone quickly approached them.

“Mickey Smith! What have I told you about running off?” Odessa shouted, causing Mickey to wince and shrink back into Aries side.

The red head just raised an eyebrow at him, though her eyes showed her amusement. “I thought you said you had been good,” she said before looking to Odessa. “Sorry, Odessa. He wanted to make sure I was okay.”

The Doctor watched on, once again seeing how at ease his Nesdra was around the two boys. He was quite surprised to know that Aries knew Mickey so personally though, and made him think back on how the boy, well, young man had reacted to hearing Aries voice over the phone during the stint with the Slitheen.

Odessa frowned at her son, but was quick to accept Aries’ apology. “Come on, Mickey. Your Gran is waiting to see you,” she said and Aries nudged Mickey towards his mother, allowing him to give her one last hug.

“How is Rita?” the red head asked, knowing it was best not to ask about Mickey's father.

Odessa smiled warmly. “She's doing well, and I have to thank you for helping out this last month. With,” she frowned slightly, “With how Mickey's father is, it has been quite hard, and being able to do things with this little one underfoot,” she ruffled Mickey's hair, “I really can’t thank you enough.”

Aries shook her head, “It’s nothing,” she replied as she glanced to the Doctor, noticing him shift almost uncomfortably.

“How is....?” the woman trailed off, glancing to Luka who was still sticking close to Aries.

“She's getting there,” Aries said, knowing who Odessa was asking about, “They went to visit them today which is why this one has been stuck with me. But anyways, we best be heading back. Its has been good to see you, Odessa.”

“You as well, Eris,” the woman replied.

When the woman headed off with Mickey, Aries turned back to the Time Lord. “Sorry about that,” she apologised, “I tend to help her babysit Mickey as his Gran is blind. Though I wouldn’t underestimate her. She’s got quite an attitude and doesn’t let her loss of sight stop her.”

“It's fine,” the Doctor said, although he couldn’t help but be confused. Aries seemed to help anyone she could, but he had never heard her mention any of these people before. She hadn’t even acted familiar to Mickey during Downing Street or when he had first met Rose and it troubled the Time Lord more than he realised.

Once again he questioned what had happened between now and then for so much of the light he could see in Aries' eyes to disappear. Sure, she still cared for those around her, but it had been more detached, almost like she was trying to keep herself separated from them.

Aries nodded as she looked over to where Rose's father was, noticing that the blonde wasn’t there anymore. “They’re gone, then?” she questioned, looking back to the Doctor.

“They’re gone,” the Doctor confirmed, glancing at Luka who was peeking from around Aries to look at him.

Looking at the Time Lord, Luka slowly moved beside Aries. The boldness he had held previously slowly coming forth once again with his aunty beside him.

The red head glanced down at Luka before back to the Doctor. “This is Luka,” she introduced and the Doctor smiled at the boy.

“Hello, Luka,” he said softly, causing a smile to grow on Aries lips as he knelt down to be level with Luka. She couldn’t help but remember the way he had been ecstatic when Luka's father had been his age and Nancy managing to get through to the nanogenes and saved Jamie.

She felt something more profound at the memory. The way the Doctor's eyes had been ignited with genuine happiness at the way that just once, everyone had lived. Once again, she felt mixed emotions towards the Time Lord. Something more akin to understanding as to why he had reacted the way he had. But once again, she knew it had to do with more than the fact he was the last of his kind.

The feelings she was feeling, they almost scared her when she wanted to pull the Time Lord into a hug and tell him everything wasn’t as bad as it seemed. But she pushed the feeling away, her eyebrows creasing at the urge, wondering where it come from.

“Hello,” Luka said quietly and Aries rested a hand on the boys shoulder.

“So, what happens now?” she asked, trying to bring her confusing emotions under wraps.

The Doctor glanced at her as he stood, giving Luka a quick smile as he did so. He looked to where the crowed was, hearing an ambulance in the distance. “No one will remember. Time with fix itself, and with,” he frowned, glancing at Luka.

“What ever was supposed to happen, it has been done,” Aries finished, realising what he didn’t want to say in front of Luka.

With a sigh, the Doctor nodded. “I’m sorry, Aries. If I had any idea that in bringing Rose back-"

“It’s okay,” Aries cut him off with a small smile, “I should never have blamed you without knowing why you brought her back.”

The Doctor was about to say something as Aries looked away, but paused when he noticed her demeanour change and sighed once again as he followed her gaze, noticing that Rose was watching them with a glare.

“I....I should take him home. His parents should be there soon, and I’d rather not have them worry,” Aries said rather stiffly as she looked to Luka and the Time Lord frowned, realising that Rose had once again interrupted them. She barely glanced at the Doctor as she continued, “Until the next time, Doctor.”

The Doctor nodded, having realised that Aries was not very fond of Rose, though he couldn’t blame her. “Until the next time, Aries,” he replied, managing a smile.

Aries returned it with a brief one of her own before leading Luka away.

“Why was he calling you Aries, aunty?” the boy asked as he glanced back at the Doctor, noticing a blonde woman who looked a little younger than his aunty approaching the man.

“That, Luka, is a long story,” Aries replied, gaining the boys full attention.

“Will you tell me it?” he almost pleaded, causing the Doctor to chuckle quietly to himself, having heard the plea.

“What’s so funny?” Rose asked him rather rudely, unsure how the Doctor could be happy after she had just watched her father die.

The Doctor frowned as he looked to her before shaking his head. “Let’s go,” he told her before heading off. “Before you do any more damage,” he muttered under his breath, giving Aries and Luka one last glance, silently wondering when he would see his Nesdra again.

Rose frowned, looking in the direction he was and it turned into a scowl when she saw he was watching Aries and the little boy.


	20. Rose

**London: March 6 th, 2005**

Aries sighed as she adjusted her bag strap on her shoulder, her other hand holding a mobile to her ear as she walked down a street. “I know that you said I needed to be there, but the Brigadier also had me looking into something. And you know how he gets when he's on the phone,” she said, sounding both exasperated and tired as she headed home.

_“Yes, I do. And don’t take that tone with me, Aries. If you had listened to me and come round for lunch, I wouldn’t be calling you right now,”_ the voice on the other end of the call said firmly before sighing, _“I worry, Aries. I know what you’re like when your researching, and,”_ there was a pause and another sigh, _“I know these last few years haven’t been easy on you, and i know that its getting closer to Jam-"_

“Sarah,” Aries cut the woman off with a warning tone, but she wasn’t hearing any of it.

_“No, Aries. I haven’t seen you in almost a fortnight and I know what you’re like,”_ Sarah said, her voice now holding her worry that caused Aries to frown, _“You can’t keep doing this. It’s not healthy and I’m going to be talking to Alistair about giving your research a break.”_

The red head let out a loud exhale, but did not reply. As much as she wanted to deny Sarah's sometimes overbearing presence, she also missed the brunette. And spending a few hours talking about mundane things did sound rather distracting.

_“I’m going to call Alistair and tell him that you need a week,”_ Sarah said after a moment, _“And I expect you to show up for lunch tomorrow, otherwise I’m putting in a missing person's report.”_

That got a choked laugh from Aries as she exclaimed, “Sarah! You wouldn’t.” She couldn’t see the smile on the brunettes face, but knew that it was there.

_“Oh, I would,”_ Sarah replied, her voice serious, though Aries could pick up a slight teasing tone to it. _“If you’re not here by twelve, I’ll be making a few calls. I may not know exactly where your lab is, but I will find someone who does and drag you away from your work if need be. Research be damned.”_

Aries shook her head, a genuine smile appearing on her lips. Even after knowing Sarah for almost a decade, it continuously baffled and surprised the red head at how she always welcomed Aries in her life. _Even to the point of blackmail,_ Aries thought with no little amusement.

“Okay, I’ll be round tomorrow,” she replied, “And Sarah....”

_“Hmm?”_

“Thank you,” Aries said quietly.

_“You’re welcome, Aries,”_ the brunette replied, her voice warm and needed no explanation for Aries' words. _“I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow.”_

Aries sighed as she hung up and pocketed her phone. Her relationship with Sarah was once she would never have expected, but she welcomed it none the less. Sometimes she just needed to be reminded that the brunette was still there and not going to turn away from her at any moment.

Sarah had become almost like a motherly figure for Aries, even though the red head had almost a century on her. But that never stopped the brunette from caring and worrying about Aries. As well as making sure that she actually ate and not withering away into nothing while being so engrossed with her research.

It had been Aries’ one-track and highly driven mind that had started with Sarah inviting her around for lunch at least twice a week and dinner over the weekend. And Aries felt a little guilty for causing her to worry, not having really intended to. But it just felt like these days, the red head was waiting for the other shoe to drop and had started to unintentionally try and push Sarah away.

The brunette had no intentions of letting Aries do that however. And although she sometimes frowned at the Brigadier’s approach to Aries’ coping skills by giving her extra work to do, getting her to do odd things on the side of her normal job with UNIT, Sarah also could tell it did help Aries. Sarah just had a quite warming and almost motherly habit to tell her not to overwork herself.

Not that Aries ever thought she could.

Aside from the usual UNIT duties she held with training the new recruits and working out where they would best fit in the organisation, Aries also helped Alistair with the occasional side projects that kept him and a few other higher up personnel informed of Torchwood's activities. And when the rare opportunity arose, she also helped with old cases that needed a fresh and open set of eyes.

But the case she had been working on over the last fortnight was more serious. The Brigadier had been tipped off about a Jathaa sunglider that had been shot down over the Shetland Islands back in ’97 before any mention of it had, possibly much to Torchwood’s relief, vanished.

She had searched everywhere for any information that would lead to the ships current whereabouts, but any evidence records or even log reports had suspiciously disappeared. Aries had almost exhausted every source she had trying to figure out where it had gone, only to have received an untraceable email containing two words; Torchwood One.

As far as Aries knew, the current base for Torchwood One had been built in 1987 at One Canada Square in the Canary Wharf business complex. It made it hard to access to confirm what the email had told her and was currently on her way home to file the report to Alistair on what she had found.

Aries shook her head as she check that the road was clear before crossing, thinking that both Alistair and Sarah were probably two of her closest friends. Both cared for her in their own ways, and although Sarah had seemed to have taken up the mantle of a mother figure for her, Alistair was more inclined, and quite happy, to keep their relationship professional. Aries however, had come to trust them and they were the only two people that knew about her past, and her magic.

As she wandered down the street, her thoughts trailed to what had been bothering her these last couple of days, only to stop in her tracks when she felt a warm presence brush against the walls of her mind. Her eyes scanned the area around her as she frowned, finding the presence almost familiar.

Not seeing anything conspicuous, the red head shrugged and continued on her way, although she was much more alert. She passed an alleyway and froze once again before quickly backtracking and peered down it.

Sitting in the alleyway was a startling familiar 1950’s Police Call Box.

“It couldn’t be,” the red head murmured as she slowly approached the box, looking back out of the alley in case she saw the Doctor. Her gaze was once again drawn to the box when she felt the warming, almost reassuring presence brush against her mind again and she paused, a frown tugging at her lips.

It had been almost eighteen years since she had last seen the ship. Eighteen years since those two whirlwind days that had her travelling, very briefly, with the Doctor. Her frown deepened slightly as the same feeling came with those memories. The feeling that she had forgotten something. Something important, but as always, tantalising out of reach. Almost like they were forbidden.

Aries took a deep breath as she stepped up to the box and let it out slowly. So much had happened in those eighteen years and if she was honest, the red head wasn’t certain if she was ready to see the Doctor again.

Noise behind her cause her to jump and turn, silently cursing herself for her nerves as she quickly made sure it wasn’t the Doctor, only to see a small group walk past the alleys entrance and she let out a relieved breath. Turning back to the TARDIS, she couldn’t help the small smile from appearing as she rested a hand against the wood of the ship.

“Hello,” she murmured, feeling the ship heat up under her palm, almost like it was saying hello back. “It has been a while, hasn’t it,” she continued, “I hope there’s not another me in there. Really don’t want a repeat of what happened the last time I saw you.”

Aries’ smile grew slightly when she felt a warm, reassuring hum in her mind.

“Well, that’s good,” she said, her shoulders relaxing slightly, “How....how is the Doctor? Keeping out of trouble?” The TARDIS cooled quickly under her touch, causing her eyebrows to knit together in confusion. “What happened?” she asked.

The ship didn’t respond and Aries was about to pull her hand away as her confusion turned to concern. But before she could, images flashed across her mind and she inhaled sharply.

_There was of a beautiful city enclosed in what seemed to be a glass dome. The sky above was a beautiful burnt orange and mountains were covered in snow. Plains of orange sand stretched for miles._

_The image changed to show her trees with silver leaves. And when the suns light hit them, it looked as though the forest was on fire as the leaves shined, creating a mirage of a forest fire._

Her awe, surprise and amazement soon turned to horror as the images changed and Aries was quick to register that she had seen these images before. They had plagued her nightmares and had confused her in the mornings that came after them.

But something, almost like another piece of the puzzle as to where these nightmares had come from slid effortlessly into place in her mind. Not quite completing the puzzle, but holding some answers as to why she dreamt of them, knowing that they had started after spending that night in the TARDIS almost two decades ago.

_The once burnt orange sky was gone, night having come to the planet below. What she would have guess to have been a lovely view of constellations never seen on Earth was instead interrupted with the flashes of lasers that light up the darkened night sky as loud, nerve-grating, piercing cries of “Exterminate!” sounded through the air. They were quickly joined by the anguished cries, screams and pleading begs of “Mercy,” before they were abruptly cut off by the Daleks._

_Armed personnel, soldiers by the way they held themselves, tried to protect the unarmed and vulnerable children and adults before being shot down by the lasers that came from large, pepper pot looking aliens that caused a shiver to run down the red heads spine._

_The once beautiful landscapes were in ruins, the ground littered with the remains of destroyed buildings and people as hundreds of Daleks flew overhead or glided passed closer to the ground._

_Amongst the chaos, there was a sudden screeching from the Daleks. “The Doctor has been located!” they exclaimed before moving away from their current targets in order to find the Time Lord._

_Near a wall that was still standing, one Aries recognised immensely, was the same man she had seen in the echo’s of her nightmares. The wall, she knew without even looking had two words etched into it by the gun the man was holding._

**_NO MORE_ **

_The last thing the red head saw as everything was engulfed in flames was an older man’s face that was haggard and dishevelled. But it was his piercing brown eyes that held her gaze before everything faded to white._

\----

Aries gasped, her eyes snapping open as she stumbled away from the TARDIS, trying to understand what she had seen. She _knew_ that the Doctor was the last of his kind, but had never imagined that the nightmares she had been having since ’87 were of the war he had lived through.

A part of her had chalked them up to seeing a Dalek and her own nightmares blending together, but now she was getting the unsettling theory that somehow, however impossible it should have been, the TARDIS had managed to project memories that were not her own through some sort of telepathic link. It was the only way Aries could understand how she was seeing things and hearing the ship in her mind.

But why the TARDIS had forged a link with her, the red head had no idea.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she was quick to brush it away, along with the burning images of the children and their families that had been cut down by the Daleks in her mind as she tried to regain control of her emotions. Her thoughts were in disarray and Aries closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm her mind, using the mental techniques she hadn’t had to use since Jami-

_No,_ she thought, pulling her mind away from that train of thought and imagining a lake in her mind. The Black Lake to be specific. It was a place where things could be lost. Forgotten in the depths and she cast the memories away, pushing the feelings associated with them to the darkest depths of the lake and praying that she would lose them somewhere amongst her grey matter.

Slowly, Aries begun to feel herself calm. Her heart slowing down as her breaths evened out. Taking another deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked at the ship, a small frown appearing on her lips as she tried to understand why she had been projected those images. She jumped, startled when she heard a quiet voice in her mind, her eyes going wide as she took a step away from the TARDIS.

_It needed to be done. I am sorry, but you will understand in time._

“Wha-?” she asked aloud, unsure if she had heard the voice or imagined it, but the sound of an explosion caused her to jump again and she forgot the voice as she ran back out onto the street to see what had happened. Looking to the location the explosion had come from, Aries’ eyes widened when she saw the top floors of the Hendricks building engulfed in flames.

She frowned, glancing back to the TARDIS and raised an eyebrow. “Do I even want to know why?” she asked the ship before shaking her head at the amused hum in her mind. Giving the ship one last glance, the red head ran towards the burning building as she pulled out a ring from a hidden pocket in her coat and slipped it on.

It was one that she had worked and perfected over the years after becoming more involved with UNIT. It had been charmed with a long-lasting glamour so she didn’t have to worry about a normal one failing her in situations like these and allowed her to focus on what she was doing instead of what she looked like. It also, thanks to the Brigadier, was used with the alias she worked under, giving her the freedom of secrecy while out and about and stopping people from recognising her.

Aries felt her magic wash over her, changing her features. Her blood red hair curled and lightened until it became a dirty blonde. Her pale skin darkened, almost like an instant tan and the features on her face soften as they changed just enough for her to not be recognised as Aries, but as Eris. Her normally silver grey eyes darkened until they were a deep blue but were still flecked with red, even though she had tried to get them to disappear.

By the time Aries reached the Hendricks building, she could already hear sirens approaching. She rolled her eyes as she pulled her psychic paper from her coat and started ordering the nosey bystanders to back away from the building. She knew that if the Doctor was involved, she needed to get this situation under UNIT control as soon as possible before the normal police, or gods forbid, Torchwood turned up.

She didn’t need another case like the mortar attack at Downing Street back in ’91.

Pulling out her mobile, she was quick to hold down the ‘5’ before placing it to her ear. It rang a few times before there was a click and a voice came through.

_“Eris, what do you need?”_ a males voice asked, getting straight to the point.

“Noah, I need a UNIT team down at the Hendricks building. There’s been an explosion on the upper floors and need it contained immediately,” she was quick to respond as she looked up at the burning building, hoping that if he was involved, that the Doctor had managed to get out in time. “I have knowledge to believe that this is a Code Blue.”

She could faintly hear the sound of typing on a keyboard before Noah spoke, _“Sending the closest UNIT team to your location now, Eris. They should be there within ten minutes.”_

Letting out a relieved sigh, Aries nodded habitually before stopping herself when she realised Noah couldn’t see it. “Thank you, Noah. I’ll let you get back to your work,” she said before hanging up, not even waiting for a reply. She was just glad that she wouldn’t be dealing with the local police on her own for long, though she couldn’t help but wonder what the Doctor was doing. She had learnt over the years, and conversations with both Alistair and Sarah, that the Doctor rarely did anything without a reason.

Movement in the corner of her eye caught Aries attention and she almost sighed in relief once again when she spotted a familiar figure ‘sneaking’ out of what looked to be the emergency exit of the shop. Keeping up the persona of Eris, Aries frowned as she stepped towards the Doctor. “Oi, you there! I said to stay back!” she shouted.

He spun on his heel with a look of surprise on his face before it was gone. Aries raised an eyebrow at him and he tugged on his ear, looking rather sheepish as he approached her.

“Er, yes. Sorry, Miss....?”

“Eris,” she replied smoothly.

“Like the Goddess of Discord, right?” the Doctor asked as he looked her up and down. A frown appeared on his face when he noticed how young she looked, “I don’t mean to be rude, but you don’t look like the police.”

“That’s because I’m not,” she replied, rolling her eyes at the flicker of confusion that came over the Doctor’s face as she pulled another wallet out of the inside pocket of her coat, slipping the psychic paper away at the same time. There was no reason to show it to the Doctor, and the less questions from him the better. She flipped open the second wallet and showed him her UNIT ID. “Commander Eris Black of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce,” she introduced herself, noticing the Doctor seemed both surprised and alarmed at her title.

They were gone as quick as they appeared, however, and he nodded as he glanced between Aries face and her ID, noticing the ring on her middle finger as it sparkled in the light. “Never heard of them before,” he said before tugging on his ear again, looking at her curiously.

“Not many people have,” Aries replied as she pocketed her ID, internally rolling her eyes at his lie. “I hope I don’t have to tell you the consequences that you could receive if I see you snooping around here again,” she stated flatly, giving him a way out. The last thing she wanted was UNIT to show up with the Doctor still hanging around. That was paperwork she didn’t need after her warning from Sarah.

The Doctor looked confused for a moment before he quickly nodded, “Ah, yes. Couldn’t help myself, really. Not everyday a shop blows up in the middle of London.”

“No, they don’t,” she raised an eyebrow at him, “Do you know anything about what happened?” she asked, looking him up and down, “You don’t look to be nosey parker,” she continued.

The Doctor quirked his own eyebrow, realising that she had used his own words back at him. “Oh. Well, looks can be quite deceiving,” he stated before glancing in the direction of the sirens that were getting closer.

“Indeed,” Aries drawled, unable to help the small upturn of her lips. “Now, if you excuse me, I need to clear the area. Which means you need to leave.”

Whether the Doctor realised her double meaning, Aries didn’t know. But he gave her a quick nod before he started walking away, glancing back once to Aries with a curious expression.

She watched him go and as he disappeared around the corner, the police arrived. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. _That was....rather interesting,_ she thought as she walked up to the police officers as they got out of there cars.

“Commander Eris Black,” she said as she pulled out her ID card again to show them, “I need this place blocked off and the civilians kept away. My colleagues will be here shortly and we will be investigating the cause of the explosion. I will also need any media to be contained. I don’t want this getting leaked out over the news until we know exactly what’s going on.”

The officers looked at her ID card and nodded before starting to block off the area and moving the civilians further away.

Aries frowned as she looked to where the TARDIS was, hearing the faint whirring sound of the engines before shaking her head and getting back to her job.

\----

It was two hours and twenty minutes later when Hendricks was deemed suitable to enter by the fire department.

She had waited as patiently as she could while they had dealt with the fire and made sure the building was stable enough for her and her team to start investigating. They had already been informed that there was a body found, but the identity was unknown and was found not to have been a victim of the explosion itself.

The news, thankfully, had been dealt with quite easily. Having been told that the explosion looked to have been caused by a gas leak that had ignited by a faulty wire in the lighting system. As well as one person falling victim to the ‘freak accident’.

As she made her through the building and up the stairs that lead to the location of the explosion, Aries was still trying to figure out what had brought the Doctor here and why he thought blowing up the upper floors seemed to be a good idea. She had not infirmed her colleagues about seeing the Time Lord exit the building, but she had explained to Alistair via an encrypted email that she had seen both the Doctor and the TARDIS.

“Commander!” a voice called, breaking her from her thoughts, “I think we found something.”

Aries quickened her pace up the stairs and entered the top floor. She carefully and cautiously made her way over to one of her colleagues, her nose wrinkling at the smell of charred wood and other things that had been held on the floor. Her discomfort of the smell was pushed to the wayside as she noticed that her colleague was looking at some bits of twisted metal that looked to have slight traces of wire melted to it. Glancing around, Aries realised that the area around where the metal was more damaged and was easy to conclude that they had found the starting point of the explosion.

“Explosives,” she muttered as she continued to look around the remains of the room, trying to work out why the Doctor had used such a thing. She glanced back at her colleague, “Keep looking for anything else that will be of any use, Private Reynolds,” she ordered, “The body was found on the lower levels, so I will start my investigation there and see if the two are connected.”

Reynolds nodded as he produced an evidence bag while another colleague took pictures of the twisted metal. He glanced at Aries, “Do you really think he was involved in this?” he asked curiously as he carefully picked up the remains of the explosives and bagged them. “I heard it was a Code Blue.”

Aries frowned, “What I think and what your told are two different things, Private,” she said sternly, “And I hope that you will refrain from anymore questions about an officer of UNIT that holds a higher rank than all of us, otherwise you may not be in UNIT’s employment for very long.”

Reynolds looked at Aries with wide eyes and swallowed, “Of course, Commander. I apologise,” he said quickly.

Aries nodded, “Apology accepted, Private. Just try to remember that some things should not be questioned. Whether or not he is involved is up to my commanding officer to disclose. Since mine has not done so, it gives reason to why I have not told you. I will never withhold information that pertains to any case from you if it is deemed necessary. But as I am your commanding officer, I will also know of things you do not. Some of that information, if leaked or got into the wrong hands, could mean people’s lives. I don’t hold this information from you because I can, I hold it from you because I must. I hope you understand?”

Reynolds nodded slowly, still digesting what Aries had just told him. He had worked for UNIT for just over a year now, but had only started working under the blonde for a few weeks. She was a well respected member of UNIT and he had heard that she had earned the title of Commander quite quickly. He had found that she was strict, but kind in her own way. She never once used her authority against anyone who worked under her and treated everyone fairly, and he could also see that she did have a point.

“I understand, Commander Black,” he stated.

“I’ll leave you to continue up here, Private. If you need me, I’ll be in the lower floors,” Aries said before turning and leaving the room, heading to where the body had been found in the basement.

\----

A frown appeared on Aries’ lips as she stepped out onto the basement level. As she looked around, her eyes narrowed when she noticed the floor was littered with mannequins before heading towards the room where the body had been found.

Her thoughts became more troubled as she paused in front of the lift, noticing that the keypad that was used to call the lift down to this level was broken and scorched. Shaking her head, she continued on as she stepped over even more mannequins, noticing that one was missing an arm.

“What were you doing?” she murmured, trying to work out what the Doctor had been doing here as she reached the room where the body had been located and nudged the door open before stepping inside. The unsettling feeling she had been getting since stepping onto the floor grew at the sight of another mannequin inside the room, along with signs that a struggle had taken place.

Something wasn’t adding up and as she pulled out her phone, Aries couldn’t take her eyes off the mannequin in the room. If the Doctor had been here to deal with something, her gut was telling her it was alien. And if that was the case, she needed to speak with Alistair. She held down the ‘1’ on the keypad of her mobile before holding the phone to her ear.

It didn’t take Alistair long to answer.

_“Aries, is everything okay? I got your message about our friend and his box,”_ Alistair said.

“Yes, everything is fine, Alistair,” Aries replied, even though she was still staring at the mannequin, “I was just curious to know more about that story you told me about Autons.”

_“Autons?”_ Alistair questioned in surprise before he immediately went into work mode, _“You think they’re involved?”_

Giving the mannequin one last glance, Aries stepped out of the room. She glanced up and down the corridor, making sure that she wasn’t being watched before she cast a muffliato charm around her to make sure she wasn’t going to be overheard. There was a faint red shimmer in the air around her before it faded.

“In all honesty, Alistair. I haven’t got a clue,” she told the Brigadier, “The Doctor’s TARDIS was here and I spotted the man in question just after the explosion happened. There had to be a reason as to why he was here, and as I stand here in the basement, I find myself surrounded by a large number of mannequins.”

_“Well, Hendricks is a department store that sold clothing. I guess that they kept the mannequins in the basement when they weren’t needed,”_ Alistair stated.

“I concede that you have a point, Alistair,” Aries sighed as she looked at the mannequins littering the corridor, “But the fact that they are all over the place tells me something happened. Even the lift keypad has been destroyed, but the explosion happened on the top floor. I do not know why the Doctor would have been in the basement to begin with, but I have a feeling that he may have come into contact with some Autons. The only thing I can’t seem to figure out was if he knew they were here, or if it was just a coincidence.”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone before an exhale was heard, _“You know what I say about coincidences, Aries. And the Doctor being there could be for a number of reasons. That man seems to be a walking trouble magnet.”_ Alistair took another moment before continuing, _“But, if the mannequins were Autons, it would explain the explosion,”_ he admitted.

“How so?” Aries questioned with a frown.

_“From what I recall, Autons are controlled by something called a Nestene Consciousness. The second time I saw Autons, the Doctor managed to figure out that they were being controlled by the Consciousness via the use of radio signals. It could explain why he blew up the top floors of the shop, for if there was a relay device on the roof and he destroyed it, it would have caused the Autons to deactivate,”_ Alistair explained.

Aries’ eyebrows knitted together as she slowly worked through the information Alistair had shared. “So,” she begun, “If these mannequins are Autons, the Doctor knew about them and came here to stop them,” she muttered before her eyebrows flew upwards in alarm, “But that also means that the Autons were getting a signal from somewhere else. Which means that there could be more of these things out there,” she breathed, her mind already flying through the possibilities of what that would mean.

_“Correct,”_ Alistair confirmed, _“And if the Doctor is here, it means he will be looking for the Consciousness.”_

Aries let out a huff of air as she walked towards the stairway, the air around her taking on a red hue as her charm followed her.

_“I know what you want to do,”_ Alistair spoke up with a sigh, _“And I wont try and stop you, Aries. Just be careful, okay. It may seem like you’re indestructible, but you’re not.”_

Aries shook her head, “I know, Alistair. And I promised Sarah I would be at hers tomorrow if nothing came up.”

_“Well, I’m ordering you to go. I shouldn’t have made you look into the sunglider if I knew Sarah was expecting you,” Alistair replied._

Aries rolled her eyes, “Okay, okay. I’ll go, no matter what. Merlin, anyone would think that you and Sarah are my parents with the way you two seem to hover over me,” she replied with a chuckle.

_“Well, someone has to. For someone who’s over a hundred years old, you do a terrible job of looking after yourself,”_ Alistair shot back, but there was a warmth and humour in his voice.

“That just may be true, Alistair,” Aries agreed with a small smile, “I’ll talk with you later. I think I’m done here for now. I’ll send through the paperwork tomorrow so you can see what is needed to go on the report.”

_“Very well, Aries. I’ll let you know what I think tomorrow,”_ Alistair replied before adding, _“After you’ve had lunch with Sarah.”_

“Goodbye, Alistair,” Aries said with another eye roll.

_“Goodbye, Aries,”_ he replied before hanging up.

Aries shook her head again as she dispelled the muffliato charm and made her way up the stairs. She really did think highly of both Sarah and Alistair, and it was comforting to know that they genuinely seemed to look out for her as well. But Aries knew that she needed to get this investigation over with so she could get home. If she was seeing Sarah tomorrow, she needed to get a good night’s sleep.


	21. Lunch With Sarah Jane

The next morning found Aries in the library of her lab, searching through the bookcases that were full of books she had accumulated over the last century. Her fingers brushed over the spines of the books as she looked for one she knew she had.

The old bookcase she had found after she had awoken in this universe had been carefully moved to her lab, knowing that with the wards and security around the place, it would be next to impossible for someone to get their hands on the books. They had slowly been joined by other books, both fiction and non over the years and she now had a collection that rivalled her fathers.

But after what had happened with having someone breech her wards via that obscure vortex, Aries had taken extra measures to protect the books she had been left with. Not wanting anyone to get their hands on the various texts and tombs on various alien species and advance technology.

The bookshelf she was looking through that held the texts had been both warded and charmed to look like various different textbooks ranging from simple mechanics and engineering, all the way up to advance biology and biotechnology. But to her, they looked like they always had.

It was in these books hat Aries was trying to find the book she remembered reading a few decades ago on alien biology. She had exhausted all her other sources that were what she considered ‘Earth Based' biology and was now branching out her possibilities. And although she had been warned by Sarah about doing any work or research for Alistair, seeing the Doctor the night before had reminded her of something she had heard when she had come face to face with the Dalek.

It wasn’t that she had actually forgotten about it, having slowly looked into her own biology after what had happened during the Blitz, but life seemed to have gotten busy in the decades that followed and she had put her personal research on the backburner. But now that she had no other obligations apart from her work, Aries felt it was finally time to dig out those old files and start looking once again.

She paused as she looked at her hand, tracing a line on the back of it where she remembered the scar that had been there before the nanogenes had fixed her. It had been the first time she realised that something was different about her. Something more than being a witch and she couldn’t help but wonder what had changed within her DNA. None of her tests had come up with anything so far, all having been inconclusive after testing herself against every known species on Earth.

Sighing as she dropped her hand and continued her search, Aries wished that she could talk with her father. He had to have known what had changed within her, considering that it was him that had sent her away into another universe and unlocked whatever had been hidden in her DNA.

 _But,_ she thought with another sigh, _He had died in the shack. There is no way I could ask him now._

Her eyes fell onto a thick book and she managed a small, bittersweet smile at the sight of it. “There you are,” she muttered as she pulled it off the shelf, feeling a tingle of magic run through her hand as she did so. She knew that if anyone else tried to remove any of the books off this bookcase, they’d be in a world of pain, but since it was keyed into her magical signature, it was harmless to her touch.

She read the title of the book and her smile grew slightly, “Biology of the Milky Way, let’s see if you’ll help me get some answers, “ she continued to mutter as she walked out of the room and into her lab. She glanced at the clock that was on the wall and let out a relieved sigh. It was only half past nine, which meant that she still had just over two and a half hours before Sarah was expecting her

Moving to her desk, the red head placed the book atop it before clearing up some space, wincing when she realised she had probably been overdoing it as she stacked the scraps and half finished ideas and possibilities about Torchwood into a pile before placing them into a draw. She pulled out a fresh piece of paper and a pen before sitting down and opened the book.

“Now, where to begin?” Aries muttered as she read through the contents page, her finger running down the page, over the chapters. It paused at one and her lips twitched upwards. “Mars,” she said before turning to the page indicated and begun both reading and writing.

\----

The book closed with a thump as Aries let out a frustrated sigh. She had managed to get through four chapters in the last two hours but had come up with nothing that would be any use to her. And looking at her notes, they were more on interesting, though irrelevant facts about the lifeforms that had once inhabited the red planet.

Getting up from the stool, the red head stretched to relax her muscles before picking the book up and heading back to her library and returning the book on the shelf, knowing that getting even more frustrated would be both pointless and tiring. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Aries couldn’t help but let out a heavy breath, trying to work out why it was so difficult to figure out what she was.

Dropping her hand, she headed off to the small kitchenette just off from her lab, hoping that a cup of tea would help her settle. _It’s not the first time I’ve come up with nothing,_ she thought with a frown, knowing that getting worked up over another dead end wouldn’t be any help.

She placed the kettle on the stove and turned it on to start boiling the water before moving to where she kept her tea, pulling a cup from a cupboard as she went and placed it on the counter. Grabbing the container of tea, Aries pulled the lid off and gave the dry leaves a deep sniff. It was a habit she had never managed to break, even after a century. But as she felt her frustration slowly seep away, she knew why she hadn’t kicked the habit. It wasn’t the same tea her father use to make, but it was as close as Aries could get and knew that it was close enough. She did sometimes wish she had asked the Doctor if she could have kept the tin the TARDIS had provided, even just to figure out what was in the blend, though she was quite content on what she had.

The water finished boiling and she fixed the tea the way she liked, adding a dash of honey to help curb her hunger as, once again, she had forgotten to eat breakfast. The red head knew, however, that Sarah would be furious to hear that she hadn’t been eating and was rather grateful that she had agreed to go to hers for lunch. She missed the brunette, even if she was rather motherly at times, and couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about not having gone round to see Sarah over the last two weeks. It just meant that Aries would have to put up with Sarah acting like a ‘mother hen’.

 _The joys of looking like you’re in your mid twenties,_ the red head thought as she sipped her tea, letting out a content sigh as she moved to sit at the small table in the corner of the room. As much as both Alistair and Sarah tried to act like some sort of parental figure towards her, Aries truly didn’t mind. She had come to appreciate their presence in her life, and in an odd sense, actually had almost come to see them as such.

Aries snorted at that thought, knowing how bizarre it sounded. She had over half a century on Alistair and many more decades on Sarah, but she found it both comforting and a little soothing to have them in her life. She didn’t have to pretend or ‘act her age’ around them. And even her magic wasn’t hidden from them, knowing that unlike other people, they never expected anything from her or held anything against her.

They had no problem with who she was, or what she could do and Alistair often asked her to help him around her home. Though Aries never minded. She could see that he was getting older and she was dreading the day he would no longer be in her life. She knew it was inevitable, but it didn’t make it any less painful. After losing both Nancy and Jamie....

_No!_

Aries suddenly stood up, the chair scrapping across the floor as she shook her head, getting rid of those thoughts. She grabbed her cup of tea and headed back to her lab to grabbed her coat. She knew it was going to happen one day, and although the circumstances wouldn’t be the same as last time, she didn’t want to get stuck with those depressing thoughts and horrid memories. It was one thing to lose a friend, but entirely different for being blamed for their death and Alistair and Sarah she knew would never blame her.

Placing her cup of tea on one of her desks, Aries moved to the coat rack and pulled one off. It was one of her favourites, lighter in colour to what she usually wore, but she needed something less sombre and a little more cheerful. The coat was a deep ocean blue and reached just passed her knees with three-quarter length sleeves. It had been a Christmas gift from Sarah a few years back, and as mush as she loved her darker, almost black coats, Aries couldn’t deny that she rather liked this coat.

She quickly slid it on and headed over to her main desk and opened a draw, pulling out her psychic paper and ring, never leaving her lab or home without both, knowing that she could be called into work at any moment. And having seen the Doctor yesterday, the red head knew that it was only a matter of time before something did come up, even with Alistair’s warning of taking the day off.

Aries picked up her tea and finished it quickly before sending the cup back to the kitchenette. She pocketed her psychic paper and ring, along with her UNIT ID and mobile. When she was certain she had everything, Aries closed her eyes and thought about Sarah's attic before disappearing with an almost silent crack.

\----

Sarah bustled around her kitchen as she cleaned up after getting lunch ready. She glanced at the doorway to her kitchen as she exclaimed, “You can’t be serious. Her first try?”

A man with dirty-blonde hair was leaning against the doorway, a small smirk upon his face as his dark blue eyes shone with mirth. “She did,” he admitted proudly before there was a glint in his eyes, his smirk growing just a tad with a darker twist to it, “Long before that mutt and his friends even thought about trying. Think she managed to do it not long into her second year.”

Sarah shook her head with a soft snort, “She always seems to be stuck neck deep in research and work. I’m just glad she hasn’t just up and disappeared,” she admitted as she sat down with a small sigh, the humour of the conversation leaving her.

The man frowned. “Jamie?” he questioned quietly as he took a seat across from the brunette.

“I really don’t see how he could have done that,” Sarah stated as she looked to the man, her expression both sad and angry, “She has done nothing but look out for that family ever since running into Nancy and her son during the Blitz. But to think almost sixty years of friendship went all down the drain over a simple freak accident.”

“Not everyone has the patience or understanding you and Alistair do, Sarah,’ the blonde said as he reached across the table and grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “And grief can do terrible things to ones mind, causing them to lash out at the ones they never meant to hurt,” he added.

Sarah looked at him with an expression of painful understanding. “It almost broke her, what he did,” she said quietly as she looked to the table, her eyes burning with tears, “We almost thought she would have just left. She hasn’t even stepped foot inside that house since....well, you know. Even Mickey doesn’t even know who she is anymore. She cut herself off from everyone.”

“Not everyone,” he replied, giving her hand one last squeeze before letting go. “You and Alistair are what tie her here. Not once have either of you let her push you away, blamed her for anything that she felt she should have controlled,” he offered her a brief but gentle smile, “And I know that she appreciates it every day.”

Sarah’s lip twitched upwards slightly before she frowned, her eyebrows knitting together slightly. “I worry about her. About when we’re gone. Who will she have then? I’m not getting any younger and we all know that Alistair’s age is slowly catching up to him. What will keep her from disappearing for good?” she questioned, looking to the blonde man across from her as if he held the answers.

The man sat back in his seat, looking at Sarah for a moment, regarding her. “Do not think that she will disappear, Sarah. Of all the things that had kept her going, it had been both yours and the Brigadier’s support that has helped her the most. Can you tell me that you would not look for her if she did try? That you would not turn the entire planet on its head to look for the woman you see as a daughter?” he raised an eyebrow, “Obscure as it may seem, Aries sees you as a mother. Regardless of what her age should have her believe.”

“And what of Aries when we are gone?” Sarah questioned, “She has gone through so much since we first met and I doubt tha-”

She was cut off when the blonde grabbed her hand once more, leaning across the table. “Think over my words, Sarah, and look between the lines. Aries will not be alone, not again. Right now, however, she is trying to regain her place in a world that doesn’t understand her. It is only a matter of time till she finds where she will stand,” he offered the brunette a knowing smile as he stood up, letting her hand go in the process, “She, by all rights, has already started on the path of where she will belong.”

Sarah frowned as she tried to understand what the blonde was saying as he picked up his jacket from the back of the chair and put it on.

“Sarah,” the man said, his cautious tone causing her to look at him in confusion. “Did she ever mention a prophecy?” he asked, his expression was one she felt as though he was deciding on whether or not to say anymore.

Sarah blinked. “What do you mean, prophecy? Like the one for Potter?”

The man grimaced slightly before slowly shaking his head in the negative. He frowned, thinking over what he could tell the brunette as he glanced at the time. “No. Before Aries came here, there was a prophecy. One in regards to an Eternal Wolf....and a Lord of Time,” he said before sweeping from the room.

“What?” Sarah asked in confusion before she realised he had gone. “Eternal Wolf and a Lord of....oh!” She froze when it hit her and she stared in the direction of her front door, hearing it close behind the blonde. “But I thought he was dead,” she breathed before getting up and started pacing in the kitchen, glancing at the clock to see what the time was.

It was only twenty minutes to twelve, and as she made herself busy by laying the food out on the table in the charmed containers that Aries had created for her, Sarah couldn’t help the swirling thoughts that ran through her mind.

 _The Doctor's alive._ Sarah felt rather ecstatic and an immense feeling of relief at that thought, having believed the Time Lord to had died. Her feelings were dashed away when another thought hit her, however, causing her to frown. _Unless he was talking about another Time Lord._

Before she could think anymore on the blondes words, there was the tell-tale crack of apparation sounding from her attic and she glanced at the clock once again, realising that Aries was early. “This can’t be good,” she muttered as she placed a small plate of biscuits on the table.

“Sarah, I’m here,” Aries' voice called as the brunette heard the sound of feet coming from the stairs that led to her attic. “I’m sorry I’m early, but Alistair told me that I had the day off.”

Sarah knew that it was a bad day for Aries the moment the red head walked into the kitchen. She was wearing the deep blue coat that Sarah had given her a few Christmases ago, but the brunette also understood why.

“I’m just glad you’re here,” she said as she offered Aries a small smile, which the red head returned, a bit hesitantly. “How’s your research going?” she asked, knowing that even if Aries was told to take the day off, she would have done something to try and keep herself occupied.

Aries shook her head with a sigh. “Not good,” she admitted, “As much as I want to know what I am, I’m starting to think that I may never find out,” she continued before hugging Sarah.

 _Definitely a bad day,_ the brunette thought in surprise as she returned the hug. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the hugs, but Aries rarely, if never, instigated them herself. “Have you asked Alistair of he could help?” she questioned as Aries pulled away quickly, though she made no comment at her quick withdrawal.

“No,” Aries replied, feeling rather embarrassed about her sudden show of emotion. But she needed to ground herself a little and knew that Sarah would never say anything about bad about her showing emotions so openly. A small part of Aries till waited for the other shoe to drop, but she knew, deep within her heart that Sarah would never push her away.

“I think you should,” Sarah remarked before gesturing to the table, “But enough of that, let’s have some lunch and then you can tell me how you’ve been the last two weeks.”

Aries smiled sheepishly as she took her seat and Sarah shook her head, sitting down across from the red head. She glanced at Aries as she opened one of the containers that held some sandwiches, deciding to break the slight tension she could feel coming from the other woman. “I have to say that the stasis-charmed containers you made works wonders. I can cook in a days advance and the food will still be fresh the next day,” she said smoothly as she placed a few of the cut up sandwiches on her plate before moving to the next container.

Aries’ shoulders relaxed slightly, a small smile appearing on her face. “I figured with all the investigating you do that it would come in handy. I know how often you’re out and about and rarely having time to cook when you get home. All that take away can’t be good for you, Sarah,” she said, her voice holding a slight teasing tone to it.

“Takes one to know one,” Sarah quickly shot back, though she was smiling. It fell slightly as she grabbed the container with the sandwiches and held it out to Aries, “So why does your research project have you bothered? I thought you had exhausted all you avenues on microbiology and DNA.”

Aries shifted slightly as she grabbed a sandwich and some biscuits. A wave of her hand had the kettle that was sitting on the stove floating over and two cups off a shelf following moments later as she stalled before responding. “I exhausted all my Earth based avenues,” Aries muttered after a few beats of silence. She hadn’t actually told Sarah about her warded bookshelf. She honestly just never had a reason to bring it up before.

The kettle poured the boiled water into the cups and floated back to the stove. Sarah raised an eyebrow at Aries, wondering what she was talking about. “And what do you mean by Earth based avenues?” she asked as she added a teaspoon of sugar into her tea with a dash of milk before stirring it.

Aries sighed as she made her tea, this time forgoing the honey, “I have a few sources of information on alien lifeforms in this galaxy and I was searching through some of them,” she admitted, looking to Sarah, “And no, Alistair doesn’t know about them either,” she added when she noticed the look on Sarah’s face.

Sarah furrowed her brows as she grabbed a sandwich, “So, if it wasn’t Alistair, then where did the source of information come from?” she asked before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Aries finished her mouthful of biscuit and had a sip of her tea before she replied, “I’ve told you about how I arrived here.”

Sarah nodded, wondering where the conversation was going. She knew how Aries had arrived in this universe and had even tried to help the red head in figuring out who would have known she was going to appear, but they had come up with nothing. Even the house that Aries lived in was never mentioned on any records before it just appeared with her name on the deed.

Aries chewed on her bottom lip before she stopped herself, taking another sip of her tea. “Well, there was a bookshelf that was in the room I awoke in. It was filled with all kinds of books on alien lifeforms and advance technology. I keep it warded and protected, knowing that if any of them got into the wrong hands that it could cause a catastrophe.”

Sarah laughed, causing Aries to grow confused, “If anyone could even find your lab, let alone get through the wards I know would be surrounding it, they would never be able to get out,” she said as she managed to contain her laughter.

Aries smiled slightly, “That is true, Sarah. My father did teach me how to ward,” her smile fell at the thought of her father.

Sarah frowned as Aries face fell, realising that it wasn’t just her research that had brought on her downtrodden mood. And it didn’t help that it was getting closer to _that_ time of year. It was only a week away from the anniversary of Jamie’s death and Sarah knew that Aries was still fighting with the guilt of what had happened to the man. A man the red head had helped raise since the Blitz.

It was not a secret to Sarah or Alistair that Aries would out live them and both had come to terms with that. Aries on the other hand....Well, it was harder for her, knowing that the people she would get to know would leave her. That they had left her. And adding to the fact that the whole time Sarah had known Aries, the red head really hadn’t seemed to age at all. In fact, Sarah remembered Aries had once mentioned that she now looked to be in her early twenties compared to how she had looked when she first arrived.

Aries was a witch, and Sarah had learnt that she aged much slower than normal humans. The red head had mentioned that when her father had died, she still looked to be in her late teens. It told Sarah that Aries hadn’t stopped aging completely, but none of them knew why it had stalled so much. Having only aged by a couple of years in over a century was not normal for a witch.

But Nick’s words replayed in her mind and it made her curious to know what he had meant by his parting words. Sarah knew that the Eternal Wolf he had mentioned was Aries. It was her name....her old name. One that Alistair and herself had sworn to never tell another soul. But she was still unsure about the Time Lord he had mentioned and whether or not it could have been her old friend, or another altogether.

Sarah decided it was best to change the topic, knowing there wasn’t any real way to comfort the witch and decided to think over her thoughts later. “So, what was the research Alistair had you doing?” she questioned, taking another drink from her tea.

Aries shook her head, smiling a little at Sarah, knowing what the brunette was doing. “You know I can’t tell you about that, Sarah. But I can say that my newest associate seems like he'll go far. He’s worked for UNIT for over a year now, but if he keeps working the way he is, I can see him furthering his position quite quickly.”

Sarah smiled as she took a bite of a biscuit, “You had a talk with him, didn’t you?” she asked knowingly.

Aries chuckled, “You know me too well, Sarah,” she told the brunette, “But yes. He took it quite well,” her face scrunched up with disgust, “Not like that other Private. What was his name again,” she muttered as she tried to remember the man. He hadn’t even lasted a day with her, so she wasn’t quite sure. She didn’t do well with dunderheads.

Sarah frowned, “You’re talking about Collins, aren’t you?” she asked.

Aries nose wrinkled more, “He reminded me too much of Tonks, to be fair. She was a good Auror, but she was clumsy like a toddler who had just learnt how to walk. Collins, however, also seemed to have loose lips. Clumsiness can be accepted if your efficient in other parts of your job, but that mixed with a loose tongue did not go well for him.”

Sarah shook her head, “He must have been terrible for him to only last a day with you. I know how you treat your associates and I know how fair you are with them.”

Aries shook her head as she finished the last of her sandwich, “Oh, he was the worst. Think of a mix of Tonks, Malfoy Jr, Potter Sr, and Ron Weasley.”

Sarah frowned, though one of her eyebrows raised in both surprise and intrigue. “Surely he wasn’t that bad, was he?” she questioned.

Aries’ wasn’t able to stop the snort that escaped her, her eyes lighting up in a way that Sarah hadn’t seen in a long time. “He was a clumsy, pompous, arrogant peacock who thought his shit didn’t stink, and always seemed to complain about when lunch was,” she stated with another shake of her head, “He lasted a total of four hours before I had to call up Alistair to get him out of my sight before I did anything myself.”

“I take it back,” Sarah said with wide eyes of surprise. She had never, and she meant _never_ , heard Aries speak badly about anyone. Not even Luka after what he put her through. So to hear her say that told the brunette that the man must have managed to push every single one of her buttons to get Aries to react like that. “He sounded terrible,” she added.

“You have no idea,” Aries replied with a small smile as she finished her tea. The expression didn’t last long on her face as she placed the cup back on the table and looked to Sarah, her face now unreadable. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around lately,” she muttered.

Sarah watched her carefully for a moment, knowing that they were slowing getting around to why she had truly wanted to speak with Aries. “It’s okay, Aries,” she said quietly, “But I have to ask,” she took a breath and let it out slowly, watching Aries tense, “Did you want me to go with you this year?”

“I....” the red head frowned, looking to the empty cup before her as her hands closed around it. “I wasn’t going to go,” she murmured, so quiet that Sarah almost missed what she had said.

Sarah looked at the red head across from her sadly, though she didn’t say anything more on that topic.

\----

It was just after sunset when Aries finally left Sarah’s house, having spent the rest of the day talking about some of the old adventures the brunette had experienced with the Doctor and some of her most recent investigations as Aries’ once again had tried to repair K9.

She did feel bad about not telling Sarah about her own run ins with the Doctor throughout the years, or about having seen the man yesterday. But seeing the sad, almost longing look on the brunettes face as she spoke of her travels had her thinking it had been the right thing to do. Alistair knew of her meetings with the Time Lord, but he was the founder and basic head of UNIT, so there was nothing the man really didn’t know. And even though neither herself or Sarah knew the true meaning behind why the Time Lord had dropped Sarah off, they both were highly, though in Sarah’s case, slightly irritated as well, at the location he had dropped the brunette off at.

They had, which Aries was quite thankful for, spoke nothing more about Jamie, or Luka. And although the red head knew it wasn’t healthy, she locked the memories away, not wanting to relive the pain and heartbreak that had occurred almost four years ago. What hurt her more, however, was Luka’s actions.

With a heavy sigh and a muttered notice-me-not charm, Aries walked through the streets of London, wondering if she should just apparate back to her lab. She was thankful for turning up to Sarah’s for lunch, the brunette always managing to take her mind off the things that were bothering her. And trying to repair K9 had helped distract her further. Science always had and always will. It brought about a feeling that she thought her father had whenever he brewed potions and he had acknowledged her affinity with it and let her learn and study what she could during the summer breaks.

She slipped her ring out of her pocket as she thought about those summers. She fiddled with it a bit, turning it in her hand and looking at the design. It had been a gift from her father on her seventeenth birthday. A gift she cherished to this day.

_Rieka sighed as she sat in her father’s private rooms, reading a muggle book called ‘Engineering and the Mind’s Eye’ as she tried not to think on what her father was doing._

_Ever since the Dark Lord had returned during the last challenge in the Triwizard Tournament, she had been even more careful about how much time she could spend in her father’s presence. But it was her seventeenth birthday, thanks to the time-turner she had been given in the summer between her first and second year, and Amelia had wanted her to try and spend the day with her father._

_And since Rieka could no longer stay at her father’s home in Cokeworth during the summer holidays, thanks to the possibility of Death Eater’s appearing without notice, Dumbledore and Amelia had made arrangements for her to stay in an undisclosed and unplottable location during the holidays that only they, her father, and Rieka herself could access. It was hard at times for the now seventeen year old to stay at the property on her own, but she had always known that when the Dark Lord returned, this would have been the most likely outcome._

_Her father tried to visit as much as he could, but with him returning to his duties of spying almost fulltime, along with teaching during the school year and brewing for both the infirmary and the Dark Lord as well, the hours they had once spent in each others presence had dwindled dramatically. Thankfully, Amelia made sure to visit when ever she could, and another blessing was that since warding the property, Albus Dumbledore had never visited since._

_Shutting the book with a thud, Rieka’s eyes narrowed as she stood up swiftly from the couch, her irritation getting the better of her. She looked to the clock with a frown, seeing that it was just passed two in the afternoon and couldn’t help but wonder just exactly_ what _Albus sodding Dumbledore was talking to her father about. The red head knew that Severus would tell her if she needed to know and trusted that he would never...._ had _never withheld information that might affect her, but this was her birthday and she wished that the Headmaster could have had the curtesy to let her father have the day off. But it seemed that the old fool was trying to keep Severus away from her more and more now that he had his spy back on the chessboard._

 _Oh, Rieka knew about the vow her father had made with Dumbledore. She knew that he had basically thrown himself at Dumbledore’s feet, asking....begging the man that he would do anything for the safety and protection of Lily, James and Harry Potter. But the old man seemed to_ conveniently _forget that he had also failed at upholding his side of the bargain. Failed when he let Pettigrew become the Potter’s secret keeper. Failed when that_ rat _had told the Dark Lord the location of the Potter’s and leaving Harry and orphan when the wizard had dealt with his parents._

_Rieka had learnt near the end of her third year just how conniving the Headmaster was. She had always know Professor Lupin was a werewolf, but it had been quite a surprise to find out that the youngest male Weasley had been harbouring, abet without actually knowing, a Death Eater that was masquerading as his rat familiar. That it hadn’t been Sirius Black that had betrayed the Potter’s and killed those muggles. But Rieka couldn’t find it in herself to forgive Sirius either. Nor could she forgive Granger and Potter for setting the man free._

_Sighing, the red head placed the book away in her bag and dropped back down into the chair, wondering when her father would return. She didn’t get a chance to lose herself to her thoughts again as the door to her father’s quarters opened and Severus walked in. She frowned slightly when she noticed how tired and drained he seemed to be, but his expression was quick to change, being replaced with a warm smile at the sight of her that she swore made him look younger and wondered, once again, just what his life would have been like without the rise of Voldemort. His troubles from the day seemed to melt away at the sight of his daughter and she could see how effective her presence was as his whole body relaxed._

_“Sorry, Rie,” he apologised as he quickly removed his outer robes and hung them on the hook by the door, “Dumbledore had me tied up with one of his Order meetings.”_

_Rieka smiled slightly as she shook her head. He was the last person who needed to apologise to her. “It’s fine, father,” she said, “I’m just glad you’re here now.”_

_Frowning, Severus looked to his daughter, “It’s not fine,” he stated, “It’s my only daughter’s seventeenth birthday and the old man should have allowed me to leave as soon as I could instead of keeping me around when I didn’t need to be.”_

_Rieka got off the couch she was sitting on and made her way to the kitchen, giving her father a quick hug on the way, knowing that he needed something to help take his mind off the meeting. “Sarkey,” she called and a house elf popped into the kitchen with an almost silent crack._

_“What can Sarkey do for the young Wolf?” the house elf asked, her ears flapping with anticipation at the possibility of helping Rieka._

_Rieka smiled at the elf. Sarkey was an elf that had been chosen by her father to bond with and she was still amazed at how willing and genuine the elf was with its need to help her. The other elves in the castle were bonded to both the Headmaster and Hogwarts, but Severus had her bonded with this elf to keep her visits a secret....and to stop a meddling Headmaster from sticking his nose into business that didn’t pertain to him._

_“Sarkey, could you bring up a plate of sandwiches and some fruit for me and my father, please,” Rieka asked._

_Sarkey seemed to bounce on her feet as she nodded enthusiastically, “Sarkey happy to serve,” she said before disappearing with a pop._

_Shaking her head with amusement, Rieka turned to the kitchen counter and started on the tea, knowing that her father preferred his own blend to whatever the elves served. She had never been able to replicate his recipe and Severus had never divulged it, mush to Rieka’s disappointment. But she took it as the challenge she knew it was and had been determined to figure it out. She inhaled the scents of the tea, already knowing what it should smell like and quickly got to work. When finished, she carried the tea tray out into the living room and seeing her father hunched over his seat, rubbing his hand over his face tiredly._

_The moment he heard her returning, however, Severus straightened with a smile as she placed the tray on the coffee table between them.“You should have had Sarkey do that,” he muttered as he watched her make two cups of tea, “It’s your birthday.”_

_Rieka just smiled as she replied, “I know that, but I also know what those meetings are like for you.” She handed him his tea before grabbing her own and sitting on the couch opposite him._

_Sarkey popped in a moment later with a small platter of sandwiches and fruit and placed them on the coffee table as well._

_“Thanks, Sarkey,” Rieka said and the elf bowed before she disappeared with another pop._

_Severus shook his head as he sipped his tea, “She really likes you,” he stated._

_Rieka shrugged as she grabbed a sandwich, “She loves helping me and I know that they live to do it. It would be rude and disrespectful not to allow her to help.”_

_Severus nodded before placing his tea on the table. “I have something for you,” he said as he pulled out his wand and flicked it in the direction of his outer robes that he had left by the door. A small box flew towards him and he grabbed it before putting his wand away, sheathing it back up his sleeve._

_He hesitated, just barely noticeable before handing the box over to his daughter and Rieka accepted it after placing her cup onto the table. She looked to her father curiously before opening it and her mouth dropped open in surprise, seeing a silver ring with a row of four gemstones inlayed into the band. The first was a light, almost exquisite imperial topaz. The second a golden beryl that shined like the sun. The third was a rather dark green gemstone she realised after a moment was a diopside. The fourth and final stone was an almost blood red almandine garnet. She blinked a few times, fighting back tears as she managed to raise her gaze back to her father. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, her voice laden with various emotions that were bubbling to the surface._

_Severus smiled slightly as he explained the significance of the ring, “It is a custom for a witch or wizard, once they come of age, to be given a ring by their parents that symbolizes their family affiliations. Normally....” he trailed off as he looked away, an almost painful expression briefly appearing on his face before his infamous emotional control snapped into place. “Normally I would give my daughter the ring left to me by my mother. One that would recognise you as a member of the Prince family,” he said quietly as he turned back to Rieka, “But I know that in doing so would only place you in danger.”_

_Rieka carefully plucked the ring from the box, smiling a watery smile at her father as she did so. “It does not matter what ring I wear,” she said as she slipped it on, feeling her father’s magic was over her, “As_ I _know who my father is. Just as I know where I belong. It doesn’t matter to me that I may never be known out there as your daughter,” she continued, gesturing to the door that led to the rest of the castle and the world beyond, “What matters to me is what I have right here, with you,” she finished as she stood up and hugged her father._

Aries let out a shuddered breath as she wiped the tear that rolled down her cheek. She slipped the ring on her finger, feeling her own magic wash over her. She didn’t know why she had put the ring on except for the feeling....need to be closer to her father for the moment.

A shiver travelled up her body, her spine as a cold wind swept over her and the red head was rather surprised to find herself before the river Thames, just across from the London Eye. She pulled out a pair of gloves from her coat pocket and slipped them on, not even having realised in her musing just how chilly it had gotten. Though she guessed that the coat she was wearing that day wasn’t as thick as her others, nor did it have the warming charms she had placed upon the others, but was rather glad that she never really left her lab without being prepared for anything.

Dispelling the notice-me-not charm, Aries leant against the railing as she stared out over the Thames, just watching the water as it flowed past. She let out a heavy sigh as her finger ran over the ring that was now hidden by her gloves, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to fall as she thought about all those she had lost, but none more so than her father. She missed him so much that at times, the pain was almost too much.

She let out another shaky breath as she tried to pull herself back together, reigning in the emotions she kept locked away. She knew it wasn’t healthy to bottle them up, but wallowing in the past was not going to get her anywhere. Her father had wanted her to be happy and safe, and she wouldn’t waste the life he had given her by drowning in the ghosts of her past.

Managing a small, but tired smile at that thought, Aries turned to walk away, only to stop short at a rather peculiar sight.

The TARDIS was standing not too far from where she was....along with the Doctor and Rose Tyler.


	22. The Alchemist

Aries stood, rather dumbfounded at the sight before her and was rather glad she had placed her ring on. Something was telling her that it was better to be seen as Eris, rather than Aries at the moment. And the red head was still unsure about her feelings at seeing the Doctor again.

A slight frown appeared on her lips as their conversation reached her ears, and glancing between the Time Lord and the blonde, Aries was quick to surmise that this was when the pair first met. She rolled her eyes, her earlier thoughts forgotten as she recalled Rose once mentioning decades ago about the Doctor having blown up her job. _And I can bet my yearly wage that Hendricks was where Rose use to work,_ she mused as her frown slowly disappeared.

“If you are an alien, how come you sound like your from the North?” Rose asked the Doctor.

The Time Lord looked to the blonde with an expression of bare tolerance as he answered, “Lots of planets have a north.”

“What’s a police call box?” Rose questioned, looking to the TARDIS that the Doctor was now leaning against.

Before he could reply, Aries spoke up as she walked towards them, causing the Doctor and Rose to jump in surprise and turn in her direction, “It’s a telephone box from the 1950’s.”

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed as she got closer before his eyes widened in recognition. “Eris?” he asked, seeing the same blonde he had run into the day before.

Rose looked between the two, curious to know how someone else knew the Doctor, especially since he had told her that he was alone.

Aries glanced at the Doctor and nodded, “Doctor,” she greeted.

“Wait!” the Time Lord exclaimed, his expression both confused and surprised, “You knew that was me yesterday.” Realisation flashed across his face before his eyes narrowed again, his expression now both wary and guarded. “How do you know me?” he almost demanded, a little confused as to why she hadn’t mentioned anything the day before.

The red head, currently masquerading as a blonde tilted her head to the side, looking to the Doctor curiously. He was nothing like she remembered and she couldn’t help but wonder why. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out it was you,” she replied before gesturing to the TARDIS, feeling an amused hum in her mind as she did so that almost had a small smile appearing on her face. “Your box gave it away for one,” she continued, managing to keep her expression blank, “And then I saw you leaving Hendricks yesterday, it really wasn’t hard to put together.”

The Doctor’s eyebrows knitted together slightly as he looked to his ship. It was true that a UNIT officer of her rank would possibly know and recognise his TARDIS, but it didn’t explain how she recognised him. Voicing his thought’s, he took a step towards her, “That doesn’t explain how you knew it was me. Or why you didn’t say anything.”

Aries once again fought the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she held his gaze unwavering as her posture straightened. All she said was a name, but it was a name that she knew would stop his questions....for now. “Brigadier, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.”

Rose watched on in confusion curiosity as the Doctor took a step back from Aries, his eyebrows creased further. She was curious to know what they were talking about and why the Doctor seemed to back down at the mention of the name. She glanced at the ‘blonde’, wondering just who the woman was.

When the Doctor didn’t say anything, just continued to look at her with furrowed eyebrows, Aries continued, “And the reason I didn’t say anything yesterday was because I am under strict orders to not reveal your identity unless the situation calls for it.”

“Orders?” the Time Lord questioned, his expression turning confused.

Aries sighed as she looked at the Doctor, her posture relaxing slightly. “As much as I would love to continue this conversation,” she begun, not wanting to divulge too much information in regards to exactly what her position within UNIT was, “I think that the signal you were following is more important. If you’ve located the origin of the signal that is controlling the Autons, I believe that it needs to be stopped as soon as possible. Before anyone else dies.”

The Doctor’s eyebrows raised in surprise to just how much Aries knew before his lips turned downwards slightly. If the woman truly knew the Brigadier, than it wasn’t too farfetched to believe that she would know about Autons as well. But it made him question just how close the ‘blonde’ was to the Brigadier and just how much she knew about himself in general. She had known what his ship looked like, but he also couldn’t help but think that Aries looked far too young to have been around when he had been exiled on Earth.

Rose spoke up before the Doctor could say anything, looking to Aries in confusion. “How do you know what they are?” she asked. The Doctor had said that he worked alone, so how did the woman know about the living mannequins.

“That’s classified,” Aries replied, barely glancing at the blonde as she turned her attention back to the Doctor. “Do you have any idea why the Nestene Consciousness would be here?” she questioned the Time Lord, wanting to get the situation sorted before something else happened.

Rose huffed at Aries, folding her arms across her chest. She didn’t like how the ‘blonde’ had dismissed her without explaining. She had almost been killed by the living plastic _twice_ and felt she deserved to know what was going on.

The Doctor grinned slightly at Aries, though he was still a little wary about the woman. UNIT was a organisation that he really didn’t want to have to deal with again and found some of the ways they dealt with situations to be quite....human. “Why wouldn’t it be here?” he said, confusing Aries before he continued, “You’ve got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It’s food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!”

Rose looked to the Doctor in surprise, “What?” she exclaimed, rather startled at the thought of the plastic things killing more people.

Aries eyebrow creased slightly as she frowned at the Doctor. “Is there any way of stopping it?” she asked, ignoring Rose’s outburst. She knew from what Alistair had told her, the last time he had faced Autons and the Nestene energy, the Doctor had somehow managed to send it back into space.

His grin growing, the Doctor pulled out a vial of blue liquid. “Anti-plastic,” he stated, as if that solved everything.

“Anti-plastic,” Rose said dumbly, rather unsure as to how the vial could stop whatever the Nestene Consciousness was.

“And do you know where it is?” Aries continued to question, once again ignoring Rose. All she wanted to do was deal with the Consciousness, not liking the idea of the alien energy being on Earth any longer than necessary and hoped it would leave without a fight.

“No,” was the Doctor’s reply, hiding his curiosity about the woman in front of him. Despite her age, Aries seemed rather at ease with the concept of aliens and he couldn’t help but wonder just how long the woman had been working with UNIT. She looked about twenty, twenty-five at least. “But it couldn’t be that hard to find,” he continued as he turned to look back to the Thames and London, getting his focus back on what drew him here in the first place and not the ‘blonde’ behind him. “How can you hide something that big in a city this small?” he asked nobody in particular.

“Hold on?” Rose said, gaining their attention, “Hide what?” she questioned. She was feeling rather lost and it wasn’t helping that they weren’t telling her what was going on.

“The transmitter,” Aries replied, “The Consciousness can control every single piece of plastic, but it needs a transmitter to boost the signal.”

The Doctor gave her an appraising look, rather surprised that he didn’t have to explain what he was looking for to her before turning his gaze back to the Thames and beyond. Aries followed his gaze and an eyebrow raised when she spotted something in the distance.

Rose, on the other hand, couldn’t help but continue with her questioning. “What’s it look like?” she asked, looking between the pair.

“This transmitter,” Aries drawled, causing the Time Lord to glance back at her questionably. “It wouldn’t happen to be something that was like a huge, circular metal structure....like a wheel, perhaps?” she continued, though she didn’t take her eyes off the London Eye across the river.

“Yes, it would,” the Doctor agreed, “It would be close to where we’re standing. Must be completely invisible,” he stated, only to earn a raised eyebrow from Aries as she continued to stare at the Eye. “What?” he asked, seeing her expression before following her gaze. Somehow, and much to the ‘blonde’s’ amusement, he still didn’t seem to notice. “What?” he repeated.

Aries sighed as she tore her gaze from the Eye and to the Doctor. “Have you ever heard of the London Eye?” she asked, unable to keep the amusement from her voice as she continued, “You know, that big, round, metal structure, smack bang in the middle of London.”

The Time Lord looked back to the Eye and blinked in surprise when it finally hit him. “Oh, fantastic,” he exclaimed in delight, turning back to look at Aries, only to find she wasn’t there. He frowned, glancing to Rose. She just pointed towards the Westminster Bridge where Aries was heading, rather unsure as to what had just happened.

His eyebrows creased slightly and frowned, but was quick to follow after her. Rose trailed behind him, not wanting to be left out.

\----

The pair were quick to catch up to Aries as she ran over the bridge.

“What are you doing?” the Doctor questioned as they ran.

Aries glanced at him with an expression that looked to be one he realised was something similar he had when someone asked him a stupid question. “I’m looking for the Consciousness,” she told him, “I’d rather not have all the plastic in the world, every artificial thing on this planet come to life. Mannequins were bad enough, but the phones, wires, cables....”

“Breast implants,” Rose added, causing Aries to shoot her a disgusted look.

“Yes, and I really needed that mental image,” she huffed with a roll of her eyes, turning her gaze back to the Doctor as they reached the other side of the bridge. “We’ve found the transmitter, but do you know where the Consciousness would have hidden itself?” she asked, her eyes scanning the area around them.

The Doctor looked around as well. “The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath the transmitter,” he replied.

“What about down here?” Rose asked, looking over the parapet near them.

The other two look to see what she had found and notice a large manhole entrance at the bottom of some steps.

“Looks good to me,” the Doctor said, glancing at Aries who nodded.

The three of them ran down the steps and the Doctor opened the hatch, revealing a red glowing light emitting from within the manhole. He went down the short ladder first followed by Aries and then Rose.

When they all got to the bottom, they found themselves in a brick-built area with lots of chains. They went through a door and down another flight of stairs, only to find themselves in a multi-levelled chamber.

“The Nestene Consciousness,” the Doctor said quietly when they noticed a large vat that seemed to have some kind of molten plastic inside, “That’s it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature.”

Aries raised an eyebrow at the vat, not having expected _that_ to be what they were looking for.

“Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let’s go,” Rose said.

“He’s not going to do that,” Aries stated, shooting the blonde a dark look. Her voice was low and dangerous, surprising both the Doctor and Rose.

Rose was quick to recover and huffed, “And why not?” she asked, “And who are you anyway?” she continued, rather not liking the woman. She had ignored her or just treated her like someone who was unimportant even since she had appeared near the Thames.

Aries turned to the blonde, fully facing Rose with a stern expression on her face as she straightened. “UNIT Commander, Eris Black,” she said, her voice holding the authority that she knew her position held. Even if it was not her actual position. “That creature is alive,” she continued, nodding towards where the vat of plastic was, “And I do not care what you think it deserves, or what it has done,” she glanced to the Doctor who was looking at her in shock, and a little bit of curiosity, “But it deserves a chance to leave peacefully.”

The Doctor nodded, his shock slowly being overturned by his curiosity as he continued to look at the ‘blonde’. He found that she was an enigma. Direct and straight to the point, taking her position within UNIT seriously. But she also held an understanding with the value of a life, an alien life at that. It was something he seldom came across in humans, knowing that they would rather shoot first and ask questions later.

He turned his attention to a still shocked Rose. “Eris is right,” he said, “It deserves a chance to leave peacefully,” he added before making his way down the catwalk that overlooked the seething vat.

Glancing at Rose, Aries followed the Doctor, her eyes scanning the surrounding chamber. Her nose wrinkled as she got closer to the vat, the smell of molten, living plastic reaching her nose.

“I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation,” the Doctor said, drawing Aries gaze back to the Time Lord and the Consciousness. The stuff inside the vat flexed, seeming to agree with the Doctor’s terms and he grinned. “Thank you,” he continued, looking at the vat, “If I might have permission to approach?” he asked.

“Oh, God!” Rose's voice called out, drawing their attention and they glanced at the blonde, only to see her rushing towards a man that was on a lower level, “Mickey, it’s me! It’s okay,” she continued as she reached him, “It’s alright.”

“Mouse?” Aries muttered in surprise, her eyes going to the man on the ground beside Rose. It had been four years since she had seen the boy, and she couldn’t help the slight pain shoot through her heart at the sight of him no longer being a boy, but a young adult. The ‘blonde’ was quick to look away, shaking her head and stopping her thoughts from going where they always went when she thought of what happened that Spring of 2001.

Mickey looked to Rose with wide eyes, not even registering that his girlfriend had not come alone, “That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!”

Aries raised an eyebrow at the man as Rose continued to fuss over the black man, “You’re stinking,” she remarked before looking up to the Doctor and Aries, though she ignored the ‘blonde’, “Doctor, they kept him alive.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he and Aries continued down towards the vat, “Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy.”

Rose shot the Doctor an incredulous look, “You knew that and you never said?” she exclaimed.

Aries frowned as she glanced at the Doctor before deciding against saying anything to the Time Lord. “Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?” she huffed, shooting Rose a glance and all but ignored Mickey. _What’s done is done,_ she told herself, ignoring how seeing the boy turned young man was making her feel.

The Doctor looked at Aries with an amused expression, though it fell slightly at the sight of her fists clenched at her sides and the twitch of her jaw. He brushed his curiosity aside as he focussed back on what he was here for. “Am I addressing the Consciousness?” he asked, looking to the vat of molten plastic and it flexed once again. “Thank you,” he continued with a grin, “If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with great respect, that you shunt off?”

To say that Aries was shocked by the Doctor’s words was an understatement as she raised an eyebrow at the Time Lord. “Doctor,” she warned, “I don’t believe that antagonizing the Consciousness is the correct way to do this,” she said, knowing that it was far from the correct way. In fact, it felt to her that he wanted to antagonize the alien. “Protocol states that w-”

The Doctor turned to her with an expression that had had Aries pausing. It was a different, darker look that she had never seen on the man before. “If you truly know the Brigadier, you would know that you do not hold rank over me,” he said, his voice coming out cold and dangerous, “You will do well to remember that, _Commander_. As your superior, I am ordering you to stay out of this,” he continued before turning back to the vat, leaving a gobsmacked Aries staring at him.

 _Did....did he just pull rank on me?_ she thought in disbelief. She scowled, her eyebrows knitting together as she glared at the Doctor, her fists once again clenched. _How dare he,_ she growled in her head before she closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath, her anger leaving her just as quickly as it appeared. As Eris, the red head knew that she couldn’t do anything. The Doctor was right. As much as she didn’t like it, he was her superior office and she had to follow his orders.

Rose looked between the pair, unsure what they were talking about, but was distracted from her thoughts as the Doctor spoke.

“Oh, don’t give me that,” the Doctor snapped, addressing the Consciousness, “It’s an invasion, plain and simple. Don’t talk about constitutional rights.”

The vat seemed to flex again, but only caused the Doctor to grow angry.

“I am talking!” he shouted, causing Rose and Mickey to jump slightly at his tone while Aries just watched him impassively. “This planet is just starting,” the Doctor continued, “These stupid people have only just learnt how to walk,” Aries huffed under her breath, but the Doctor didn’t seem to hear her, “But they’re capable of so much more. I’m asking you on their behalf. Please, just go.”

In her distracted state, still miffed by the Doctor’s words, Aries didn’t notice four figures approach her and the Doctor from behind until it was to late. She let out a sound of surprise as she felt the cold, but hard grip of two Autons on her arms, causing the Doctor to turn to her in alarm. But it gave the other two mannequins the opportunity to grab him while he was distracted. One of the Autons pulled out the vial of anti-plastic from his jacket.

The Doctor looked back to the Consciousness as it grew angrier at the mannequins findings. “That was just insurance. I wasn’t going to use it,” he tried to explain, “I wasn’t attacking you. I’m here to help. I’m not your enemy. I swear, I’m not.” The alien wasn’t hearing any of his pleas as it flexed once more, angrily. “What do you mean?” the Time Lord asked, his face rather pale.

Their attention was drawn to a door above them as it slid back, revealing the TARDIS as the vat continued to move as it spoke to the Doctor, though none of the humans could understand what it was saying.

“No. Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes that’s my ship,” the Doctor spoke, his voice starting to take on a slight panicked tone and Aries couldn’t really blame him, “Yes, that’s my ship. That’s not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t save your world! I couldn’t save any of them!” he exclaimed.

The ‘blonde’ froze in the grip of the Autons, her head snapping from the TARDIS and to the Time Lord so fast she was vaguely surprised that she didn’t end up with whiplash. But that concern was overcome by the dawning horror of just what she had been dreaming about for the last twenty odd years. Images of what the TARDIS had shown her, along with the nightmares she had been having flashed across her mind and she finally understood what the ship had shown her. Why the Doctor was so different to what she remembered. Everything seemed to slid into place in her mind as she stared at the Time Lord, knowing that he hadn’t fought and survived that horrid war, but he had been the one to finish it.

The words ‘NO MORE’ that had been burned into her optical nerves the moment she had seen them etched into the side of that wall screamed at her as she stared at the man before her. Realisation set in that the face she had seen, had haunted her memory since the first time she had seen those piercing brown eyes on that older face....it had been the Doctor. That it had been him that had made the awful, terrible and possibly universe saving decision to finish what the Daleks had started.

She gasped in both shock and sadness when she realised what the end of those dreams had meant. That the Doctor hadn’t just fought in that war, but he had finished it. But what tore at her heart more than anything was the realisation that he hadn’t just ended the war, but had destroyed Gallifrey along with the Daleks. He had destroyed his own home planet to stop them.

“It’s the TARDIS!” the Doctor’s panicked voice cut through Aries’ thoughts as the vat exploded with energy. “The Nestene’s identified it as superior technology. It’s terrified. It’s going into the final phase. It’s starting the invasion!” He looked to Rose, “Get out, Rose!” he yelled, “Just leg it!”

He then turned as much as he could to see Aries being held by two Autons and was momentarily confused when he noticed her staring at him with a sad and sympathetic look. It was gone before he could even question her expression the moment she realised he was looking at her, her face once again becoming blank, impassive. “I’m sorry, Eris,” he said sincerely, only to earn a confused look from the ‘blonde’.

She had no time to question him as the Consciousness started throwing energy bolts around, notifying them to what the alien was doing.

“It’s the activation signal. It’s transmitting!” the Doctor exclaimed.

Aries glanced at the Doctor as the Consciousness grew even more agitated, her mind trying to work out how to get herself and the others out of the situation they found themselves in. Her attention, however, was brought back to her own perilous predicament when the Autons that were still holding her tightened their grip and started to try and move her closer to the vat.

A glance to the Time Lord showed he was in a similar situation as he shouted to Rose, “Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run!”

The ‘blonde’ noticed out of the corner of her eyes Rose and Mickey trying to get out, but the stairs were destroyed. Another memory flashed into her mind and she was quick to push it away. _No, not again!_ she thought as she started to fight against the Autons holding her.

“The stairs are gone,” Rose told them before she and Mickey ran to the TARDIS. The blonde tried to open it, but the door wouldn’t budge, “I haven’t got a key!”

“We’re going to die!” Mickey shouted, his eyes wide with fear and his voice had Aries freezing on the spot.

“No!” the Doctor exclaimed.

Aries eyes snapped towards the vat when the Consciousness shouted, in what seemed to the ‘blonde’ to be English, “Time Lord.”

“No,” Aries hissed through gritted teeth, “Not again.” Her magic curled around her as her eyes went from the glamoured dark blue to a blood red, swirling with her magic and fury. “Immobulus!” she shouted, her voice almost coming out in a growl as her magic exploded from within her and swept like a wave of red over everything in the chamber, freezing everything and everyone in their place.

She ripped her arm from one of the frozen Autons and rested her hand upon its chest. The moment her hand touched it, the mannequin started to melt as her magic surrounded it, causing it to glow with a faint red hue. She repeated the same thing to the second Auton when she got out of its hold, leaving nothing but a puddle of molten plastic in its place. Her furious gaze swept over the chamber, taking everything in. When they landed on the Autons holding the Doctor, she made a gesture with her hand and the two mannequins let him go before falling to the floor in pieces.

As she walked up to the Doctor, something on the ground caught her attention and her jaw clenched. She quickly picked up the vial of anti-plastic and pocketed it, knowing she was going to be using it soon. First, though, there was something she needed to do. She straightened and looked to the Doctor, her fury dying a little as she gazed at him, understanding full well that he was still conscious. She didn’t know how the obliviation charm would work on him, nor did she want to use it. The last thing she wanted to do was harm him or his mind, so she did the next best thing.

Placing her hands on either side of his face, Aries gazed into his blue eyes as she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

The last thing the Doctor saw was her red eyes, along with an emotion he couldn’t comprehend before darkness was all he knew.

\----

Once Aries had managed to get the Doctor, Rose and Mickey inside the TARDIS, the ship happily opening for her without needing to ask, she stepped back into the chamber. Everything was still pulsing with her magic, frozen in time.

She turned to the TARDIS and placed her hand against the panelling. “Get them out of here,” she ordered, her voice almost a whisper. The ship warmed under her hand before it started to disappear until there was nothing but empty air under her hand. Her eyes once again softened when she heard a whispered _Thank you_ in her mind as it vanished.

They hardened not a moment later, however, as she turned back to look at the vat that held the Nestene Consciousness. As she approached the alien, a dark look made its way on her face. This alien had threatened someone she felt close to, no matter how long it had been since she had seen the Doctor. And she wasn’t about to let that pass.

She waved her hand in front of her and the vat of molten plastic unfroze. It gave out a surprised sound and flexed away from Aries when it noticed that she stood before it alone, her eyes still swirling red. Aries pulled off her gloves and her ring, allowing the glamour to fall away as she pocketed the items.

“I may hold onto the belief that everything has a chance to live,” the red head spoke, her voice a venomous purr as she pulled the vial of anti-plastic from another pocket, “But when you endanger this world. When you endanger its people, I become decisively less inclined to follow that belief,” she continued as she pulled the top off the vial.

The Consciousness shrunk back away from Aries and the red head’s lips turned downwards slightly when she could smell the distinct scent of fear mingled with the scent of burning plastic. The alien spoke, once again, in English, slightly surprising the red head. “The Alchemist is merciful,” it stated pitifully.

Its words had Aries pausing. “Alchemist?” she questioned, rather unsure but curious as to what the Nestene Consciousness was talking about.

The Consciousness, much to Aries’ bafflement, managed to pull what looked to be a surprised but smug expression. “The killer of her own kind,” it said, just loud enough for the red head to hear.

Something overcame Aries at those words and her eyes darkened till they were almost black. The teardrop pendant around her neck started to pulse, taking on a slight amber glow as it grew slightly, becoming more of an opal shape.

The Consciousness' eyes widened in fear at the sight of the changing pendant, but words unknown to both Aries and the alien fell from the red heads mouth as she sneered at the vat. “ _Niar Elukaraveci viec jorlo,_ (The Alchemist is dead,)” she snarled before pouring the anti-plastic into the vat, “ _Elto vecim elkar skiz._ (And so are you.) _”_

The Nestene Consciousness gave out a shriek, but Aries stood there impassively as the anti-plastic came into contact with the alien.

“ _Skiz vecamzuo allzar urrkni liarta niar Kille imk Fortai nimujo skiz nim,_ (You should have left when the Lord of Time told you to,)” Aries told the Consciousness coldly before she vanished with a thunderous crack, leaving the alien to its fate as the chamber around it started to crumble and collapse.

\----

In an alleyway near the River Thames, the TARDIS materialised.

Mickey bolted from the ship as soon as it landed, hiding behind a pallet while Rose followed him at a more relaxed pace, pulling out her phone and dialling a number as she went.

The Doctor stood in the doorway of the TARDIS, shaking his head as if to clear it. He frowned, feeling rather confused about what just happened. He had been trapped by four....no, two Autons and a blonde....Rose had saved him by knocking them out of the way while swinging on a chain. The anti-plastic had fallen to the ground....into the vat and they had escaped in the TARDIS. His frown deepened however, when an image of a blonde with swirling red eyes flashed across his mind.

“Fat lot of good you were,” Rose told her boyfriend, breaking the Doctor from his thoughts as to where he had seen the blonde before and caused the image and the feeling he had forgotten something to fade.

He shook his head again. “Nestene Consciousness?” he said with a smirk, looking at Rose as he leant against the open doorway of his ship, “Easy.”

Rose huffed but grinned as she looked to the Time Lord. “You were useless in there. You’d be dead if it wasn’t for me,” she stated.

A sheepish look overcame the Doctor’s face as he nodded. “Yes, I would. Thank you,” he thanked, “Right then, I’ll be off, unless, er, I don’t know,” he tugged on his ear as he shifted his weight, not a hundred percent certain about what he was about to ask. _She did save your life,_ he thought, causing him to ask anyway, “You could come with me. This box isn’t just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe, free of charge.”

Mickey wrapped his arms around Rose's legs, “Don’t. He’s an alien. He’s a thing,” he told her, trying to get her to stay.

“He’s _not_ invited,” the Doctor said, pointing at Mickey before looking to Rose, “What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere.”

Rose looked undecided. “Is it always this dangerous?” she asked.

“Yeah,” the Doctor nodded, his answer truthful.

Rose looked passed the Doctor and into the TARDIS before her attention was drawn to Mickey when he tightened his grip on her legs. She frowned slightly, “Yeah, I can’t,” she said, a little sad about having to decline the offer, “I’ve, er, I’ve got to go find my mum and someone’s got to look after this stupid lump, so.”

The Doctor's face remained blank, even as he felt disappointed at the blondes answer. He nodded again, “Okay,” he said, trying to keep the dejection out of his voice. He gave her one last look before continuing, “See you around.” He stepped back into the TARDIS and closed the door.

The TARDIS started to dematerialize before it vanished.

Rose sighed as she looked down at Mickey, “Come on, let’s go,” she said as she tried to get him to stand up, “Come on. Come on,” she continued to try, only managing to get him to untangle his arms from around her legs.

She suddenly perked at the sound of the TARDIS rematerializing and the Doctor stuck his head out the door when it landed again. “By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?” he asked with a grin before disappearing back inside, but left the door open.

Rose looked down to Mickey. “Thank you,” she told him.

“Thanks for what?” Mickey asked, rather confused.

“Exactly,” Rose said before kissing Mickey on the cheek and dashing inside the TARDIS, a large grin on her face.

Mickey watched on lost as the TARDIS dematerialized again.

None of them noticed a pair of silver-grey eyes watching them from the shadows of the alleyway. Aries felt torn after watching the scene before her and was a little confused as to what had happened when she had dealt with the vat of molten plastic. She knew one thing for sure, though. The timeline had been maintained the moment Rose had stepped inside the Doctor's ship.

Obliviating Rose had been easy, not having really liked the blonde in the first place. But Mickey had been harder. A part of her had wanted to remind him as to just who she was, but after what had happened to Jamie and Luka, she had, with great difficulty, caused the young man to forget her once again.

The Doctor, however....she just hoped that he wouldn’t hate her if he ever remembered, having locked the memories away instead of removing them. She knew that with a mind like his, and the fact he wasn’t human that he could one day remember, and seeing his confusion when Rose and Mickey had stepped out of the ship, the red head hoped that she had done the right thing by him.

But watching Rose just leave Mickey behind without a backwards glance, Aries felt a twinge of protectiveness overcome her at the blondes blatant disregard for her supposed boyfriend. Having seen how Rose had acted not only during the Blitz, but during the red heads short travel with the Doctor, she couldn’t help but wonder if Rose had forgotten that she had a boyfriend.

She had known that Mickey was besotted with Rose and knew they had once been an item, but the way that Rose had flirted with not only the Doctor, but Jack as well....

A frown appeared on the red heads face as anger and something she couldn’t fully identify sparked inside her, causing her to become uncomfortable with the intensity of the feelings so she quickly banished them. She had no say on what the blonde did. Though as she walked away, wanting to get her report to Alistair done and let him know that the Nestene Consciousness had been dealt with, she really hoped that Rose wouldn’t break Mickey's heart.


	23. Aliens Of London

** Aries Residence , London: March 7th, 2006 **

There was a clank as Aries shifted one of the boxes from her desk and she winced, hoping that there wasn’t anything fragile inside. It had been a few weeks since she had finally decided to move back into her house, but she was still stalling with unpacking everything that she had brought from her lab.

She sighed as she sunk into the chair before her desk, a piece of paper in her hand and she couldn’t help but frown as she looked it over. “Another fail,” she muttered, seeing the results of her latest DNA comparison test before placing the paper into the shredder that sat under the desk.

As she watched the paper be eaten by the machine, she thought back to how she had started her tests. It had been seven months since she had asked Alistair if there was any chance she could access the DNA samples and files that UNIT kept of the various alien lifeforms they had come across. But even with those samples, she was coming up empty. She had been surprised when she noticed that a few of the most recent samples had come from Torchwood and had questioned the Brigadier about how he managed to get them, but he was not revealing his contacts.

The last one she had just tested had been the last that Alistair had been able to get a hold of and the red head was feeling rather disheartened that she hadn’t been able to answer the question that had been bothering her since she had heard what the Dalek had called her all those years ago.

She glanced towards the doorway of her study when she felt a shift in the wards around her property, alerting her to someone approaching her front door and let out another sigh, wondering who it could be. Sarah wasn’t coming around until tomorrow to help her unpack after she accidently let it slip that she had only done the basics, and no one else really knew where she lived. Even the UNIT officials that came to pick her up when needed would call in advance and wait in their car on the driveway.

Heading to the front door, Aries was surprised when she opened it to see a blonde haired male dressed as a postman. In his hands was a small box and she couldn’t help but frown at the man. She had a private postal box at the Post Office down the road from her house that her mail went to, as well as the one in Wales near her lab. So she was rather wary to see the man standing there.

“Aries Prince?” the man asked.

Aries couldn’t help it as her frown deepened. “Yes,” she replied as she looked the man up and down. There was something about the blonde. Something she couldn’t pinpoint.

The man, seeing her wary expression, was quick to explain why he was there. “I was asked to deliver this to you personally,” he said, holding the box out to Aries.

Her gaze flickered to the box before back to the blonde, but made no move to take it. “And who sent it?” she questioned.

The blonde’s lip twitched upwards slightly. “The Brigadier warned me that you would be rather cautious,” he replied as he pulled out a small letter from his pocket. “Alistair said that you would know that this,” he nodded to the box, “Was from him when you read this,” he continued, now holding the letter out to the red head.

Aries pursed her lips as she accepted the letter of the man, though she couldn’t stop herself from glancing at the man curiously as she wondered why Alistair would have sent anything to her without warning her before hand. She was also under the suspicion that the blonde wasn’t truly a mailman as the Brigadier knew how much she valued her privacy.

Opening the letter, Aries read it quickly. Her eyebrows raised as she did so, knowing immediately that the man hadn’t been lying. She could recognise Alistair’s messy script anywhere.

_Aries,_

_I’m sorry for not telling you that I was sending this, but after speaking to you and knowing that you haven’t been able to get a positive result with your research, I ended up getting my hands on something that might be able to give you some answers._

_If this sample provides fruitful in your research, please let me know and I’ll send further information in regards to it. I would have sent the information now, but the rarity and what would happen if the wrong people found out about the sample, has caused me to not do so._

_I hope it holds your answers,_

_Alistair._

When she was finished, Aries pocketed the letter as she looked back to the blonde, noticing that he hadn’t been surprised to she her do that. “You’re not a mailman, are you?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. The letter she had just read told her as much, and that wasn’t even considering the feeling she was getting from the man.

The blonde shook his head with a small smile, seeming to approve of her observations. “No, I’m not,” he confirmed as he pulled something else out of his pocket and showed it to her. Aries immediately recognised the UNIT ID card. “Commander Aspen of the Ministry of Defence. Currently liaising with UNIT under the direct request of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart,” he introduced himself.

Nodding in understanding, Aries understood why she wouldn’t have heard about the man from Alistair. She didn’t have anything to do with the MoD, but had heard about them. “Thank you for dropping the box off,” she said as she finally accepted the small parcel.

Aspen nodded, putting his ID away. “It is no worries, Ma’am,” he replied with a small smile before he turned and walked away.

Aries watched him go for a moment before glancing down to the box as she closed the door, wondering what was inside it that Alistair thought to be so important that he sent a MoD Commander to drop it off.

\----

Walking into her study, Aries approached her desk before placing the box atop it and sat down, staring at the box for a moment.

Her fingers twitched, wanting to scan it to see if there was anything dangerous in it, but stopped herself. She knew that Alistair would never send her anything that would bring her harm, and so with a slow exhale, Aries slid the box closer to her and opened it. She was surprised to notice a smaller, wooden object inside surrounded by shredded paper. There was also a note tucked behind it. With furrowed brows, the red head took the note out and placed it beside the packaging before taking the smaller object out for a closer examination.

It was made of a lightly varnished wood and was about eight centimetre’s long. The ends were the shape of a pentagon and had some very fine, but detailed carvings on it. The top two sides had a carving of a wolf howling at a moon, while the front was fitted with a small latch which she undid, only to grow confused when she noticed a Cryptex inside.

“Why would Alistair send me a sample in a Cryptex?” she muttered as she stared at the small cylinder-shaped device inside. It was a beautiful piece of word and Aries couldn’t help but admire it. Even the letters on the combination lock shined like someone had polished it for hours.

She and Alistair had once spoken about creating one after reading the novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’ a few years ago, and although she had started the plans, they never actually put those plans into production. But as she continued to examine the cylinder, Aries realised that Alistair had gone ahead and made one. It did make her wonder why he went to such extremes to send her a sample, though.

Aries looked back to the note, wondering if it would hold any answers and picked it up to read.

_To know your future, you must remember your past._

_Although I am yours, you had it recast._

_What others use more than you,_

_Though this is only known by a few._

Frowning as she repeated the words, Aries’ eyes fell back onto the Cryptex. Gingerly removing it from the box it came in, remembering from the book that it could be booby-trapped, she held it in her hand before her.

“What others use more than you,” she murmured as she tried to work out what Alistair’s riddle meant. Her gaze went to the box the Cryptex had been in and her eyes widened the moment they landed on the howling wolf. A smirk appeared on her face as she slowly started rolling the letters around to form a word. “Alistair, you brilliant man,” she whispered as she finished setting the word she hoped would unlock the Cryptex.

_R-I-E-K-A_

There was a click and Aries waited with baited breath, hoping that the word worked. She let out the breath she hadn’t realised she was holding when one end popped outwards. She carefully twisted the end off and peered inside, finding a small vial hidden within. Gently sliding the vial out onto her hand, Aries placed the Cryptex back inside its box.

Holding the vial up and peering at it, Aries’ eyebrows knitted together when she noticed it contained a small amount of blood. Once again, the question of why Alistair had gone to such extreme measures just to send her the smallest of samples to test ran through her mind. She wondered where he obtained this sample for it to be considered dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. But as she stood up, Aries pushed those thoughts aside.

She had work to do.

Without another thought on where it had come from, the red head warded the vial strongly before disapparating, heading straight to her lab. A renewed spark of hope ignited in her at the possibility that this sample may just hold the answers she was looking for.

\----

After setting up the comparison test, Aries sunk back into her chair. She placed a hand over the mark on the inside of her arm where she had drawn a vial of blood to compare the new sample against and healed the mark the needle had left.

All she had to do now was wait for the machine to do its thing and provide her with the results. Running a hand through her hair, Aries still pondered what the sample Alistair had given her, but she brushed the thought aside. No matter where it came from, she just hoped it would give her some answers.

Knowing that it would be at least another hour before she got the results, Aries glanced around her lab, looking for anything she might have missed in the move before disappearing with a crack.

Reappearing in the living room of her house, the red head thought about what she could do while she waited. Feeling a little excited about the test that was undergoing in her lab but also not wanting to spend time alone in the house that still held some very painful memories, Aries quickly headed off to her bedroom to change into some more comfortable clothes, feeling that a run may do her some good with settling her nerves, as well as getting out of the house.

Once changed, she grabbed her mobile and ID card before setting off out the door. She had no plans on where she was heading and just allowed her feet to guide her as she focused on her breathing. She had only made it a few streets from her house when a beeping sound caught her attention and she paused, pulling her phone from her pocket with a small frown.

Pressing a button on the device, the screen changed to show her something large had passed through the Earth's atmosphere and was heading straight to London. Her eyes widened in shock before looking up, just in time to see what had passed through the atmosphere. A large spaceship appeared in her vision and she winced and had to cover her ears as a loud horn blared from the ship.

Looking back down to her phone, Aries pressed a few more buttons, ignoring the people around her as the streets turned chaotic as she watched the ship on her device crash into the middle of London. _Well, at least I know that my Atmospheric Breach Software works,_ she thought, trying to see where the spaceship had come from. The screen changed again however, as her phone started ringing and she was quick to answer it.

“Kate, what can I do for you?” the red head asked as she headed in the direction that the spaceship had crashed.

 _“Aries, I can already presume that you’ve noticed our visitor,”_ Kate stated, getting straight to the point, _“I need you at Headquarters as soon as you can get here.”_

Aries furrowed her brows as she stopped walking, her gaze lingering towards the direction the ship had gone. “Is there a reason you need me there?” she asked as a small frown appeared on her face, “Instead of ground zero?”

_“As far as we know, there hasn’t been a sighting or a Code Blue instigated. Since he is MIA at the moment, I’m calling you in as the Royal Commander to run this operation. You’re the only competent alien expert besides him that will be able to get this situation under control and hopefully let us know what we’re dealing with.”_

Aries’ frown deepened, “You know, Kate. One day you’re going to have to tell me how I ended up with that title,” she said as she headed towards her house, “Just send a car out to my residence and I’ll be there shortly.”

There was the sound of what she guessed to be a relieved sigh on the other end, _“Thank you, Aries. I’ll send the car out now.”_

“See you soon, Kate,” Aries said before hanging up. She paused as she pocketed her phone and glanced back towards the Thames where the ship had crashed. Shaking her head, the red head continued on her way back home, her earlier research forgotten as the thought on why a spaceship had picked today to crash into the middle of London circled her mind.

By the time she turned into her street, there was already a black SUV parked at the front of her house. She nodded to them as she went inside, needing to grab a few things as well as change before she left.

\----

“Kate, why did you even bother to have me there if you were just going to have others overrule my decisions,” Aries huffed as she walked inside her house, the front door slamming behind her as her wards snapped into place with a red flash.

It was later in the evening and Aries wasn’t happy about how her day had gone. She had been dropped of at Kate’s office hours ago and had tried to get some semblance of order going. But since her position wasn’t known to the general public or even other government branches, a lot of her decisions seemed to have been overlooked. And to add to all of that, Aries had stumbled across some information on something called the Black Archives.

 _“Aries, I know what you’re thinking,”_ Kate sighed on the other end of the phone, _“But you have to know that UNIT holds its secrecy for a reason. If the general public were to know what we know, there would be chaos.”_

Aries clenched her jaw, “You know that I am not talking about the general public, Kate. Those news reporters should have been contained immediately, but instead, they were left to run wild. People are going to panic anyway and there was no need for them to build onto that. What in Merlins name was the Secretary General thinking telling people to watch the skies. Have they got any idea about what that would cause.”

There was another heavy sigh on the other end of the phone, _“Aries, you know that UNIT doesn’t have control over everything.”_

“Oh, I know, Kate. You don’t have to remind me what I know and don’t know. I’ve watched this organisation grow over the last decade and I have to say that what it has become, it’s not the organisation that your father helped build,” Aries snapped, her magic curling around her as her anger grew. It had been building up all day and now that she was finally home, she let it out.

 _“Of course it’s not,”_ Kate exclaimed, _“UNIT needs to move with the changes. It cant-"_

“Do not try and explain it to me, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart,” Aries cut her off with a hiss, “I’ve seen enough change in my life to know that the way you are going about it is wrong. What you are doing to, what you have become is not the same UNIT that I joined, not the same UNIT your father created.”

It hadn’t been just the spaceship that Aries had been researching that day. She had also taken the opportunity to do a quick sweep of the UNIT database. Since Aries really only got information from Alistair in regards to most cases or from Kate when she was working in the field, she rarely had time to actually see what was happening with other parts of the organisation. And what she had found had her furious.

_“Of course it’s not. What my father created was not capable of keeping up with changes of the world. UNIT needs to expand. The way that UNIT had been running and containing the knowledge of alien lifeforms would have eventually gotten out and then where would we be?”_

The paperwork on Aries coffee table flew across the room and her empty mug of tea that had been left there earlier shattered as her temper grew. “When I joined this organisation, I agreed to help you with understanding alien life. I had implemented orders that anything too advanced or dangerous to handle should be destroyed, not left in one place that would give any alien race with the knowledge on how to use them an armoury to overtake the Earth.”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone before Kate spoke up again, _“You may hold the position of Royal Commander, Aries, but that gives you no right to tell me how to run this organisation. Those decisions were made with the wellbeing of everyone involved. The Black Archives are protected by the highest security measures known to man.”_

Aries shook her head as she sighed, realising that she wasn’t going to get through to Kate, “And that will be your downfall, Kate. You have placed anything and everything in one place and have left it under a lock and key that most alien species had probably played with as children,” she walked into her kitchen, but not before clearing up the mess she had created in her living room, “But enough about that, Kate. It’s clear that you’re still as stubborn as you father. My question now is, why did a spaceship land in the middle of the Thames, almost taking Big Ben out with it, only to find that it was piloted by a spliced pig?”

There seemed to be a relieved sigh as Kate answered, _“We’re working on it as we speak,”_ there was some shouting occurring in the background, _“I’ve got to go, Aries. Just make sure you’re ready to head off to Downing Street. It’ll help us to try and figure this out having you there.”_

Flicking the kettle on, Aries sighed, “I’m only going as another advisor, Kate,” she told the woman, “It’ll be easier to mingle with the others if they don’t know my position.”

 _“Alright. I’ll send a car around in fifteen,”_ Kate told her before hanging up.

Aries placed the phone on the counter and made her way to her bedroom to get changed quickly. By the time the kettle had finished boiling, Aries had changed her top and gotten another coat on.

Another ten minutes later had Aries sitting at her kitchen table waiting for her escort that’ll take her to Downing Street.

\----

Exactly fifteen minutes after Kate had hung up, there was a knock at Aries’ door.

The red head got up off her chair at the kitchen table and placed her cup in the sink before walking out to open the door, silently wondering if it was going to become the norm for people to just knock on her door instead of messaging her and waiting in their car. But she guessed that it wasn’t everyday that a spaceship crashed into the middle of London.

“Commander Aspen,” Aries greeted in surprise, recognising the blonde haired man from earlier.

“Evening, Miss Prince,” the man greeted with a slight incline of his head, “I hope you don’t mind, but I volunteered to take you to Downing Street.”

“Not at all, Commander,” she replied with a shake of her head, “I was just surprised to see you, that’s all,” she continued, “And please, call me Aries. Miss Prince makes me feel rather old.”

The blonde chuckled, “Than it would be only fair if you call me Nick,” he stated before gesturing to the sedan in the driveway, “If you are ready, I suggest we should get going.”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Aries muttered as she headed towards the vehicle and sitting in the front passenger seat as Nick moved to the driver’s seat.

As he started up the car and reversed down the driveway, he spoke up, “There will be a slight detour to Downing Street. I was informed that I was to pick someone else up as well.”

Aries glanced at the Commander before shrugging. “That's fine, Nick. Though I have to ask, how long have you known Alistair? He’s a man of few words and never really mentioned any association with the MoD before.”

“Hmm, I would have to say that I’ve been working as a liaison officer with him for about five years now. Though to be fair, it’s only been an odd job here and there,” the blonde replied as they turned down a street.

“He really does like his odd jobs,” the red head muttered with a small smile as she looked out the window. Her smile turned into a frown when she noticed a large number of police vehicles and a helicopter. “Okay, now I’m curious,” she said, looking back to Nick, “Who is this other pick up?”

Nick glanced at her with a smirk but didn’t say anything as he parked the car.

Continuing to frown, Aries looked back outside and raised an eyebrow when she spotted the TARDIS, just as the Doctor, Rose Tyler and....

“What is Mouse doing with them?” she questioned quietly, seeing the young man step out with the other two, directly into the helicopter’s spotlight.

Aries was quick to exit the vehicle when she heard the police demands.

_“Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads.”_

She watched as Mickey, who had been standing beside the Doctor, run off. But she gave no inclination of having seen where he hid as Jackie Tyler shouted out her daughters name, only to be held back as she tried to approach the pair.

_“Raise your hands above your head. You’re under arrest.”_

The Doctor and Rose complied, though Aries groaned when she managed to hear the Time Lord’s voice as he grinned, “Take me to your leader.”

“Everything alright?” Nick asked as he stepped up beside Aries.

She glanced at him as the Doctor and Rose were escorted to their vehicle. “The man’s ego is big enough. Did they have to make it bigger?” she muttered under hear breath before straightening as the pair reached them.

She could hear Nick chuckle quietly as he followed her actions. “You’re to come with us,” he told the Doctor and Rose as they stopped in front of them.

The Doctor’s eyebrows knitted together as he glanced between Nick and Aries before he grinned. “Hello, and who might you two be?” he questioned.

“Commander Nick Aspen, MoD,” Nick introduced himself as he held out his hand.

“Ministry of Defence,” the Time Lord said, shaking the blondes hand, though he was a little confused as to what the MoD were doing there.

“I’ve been called in on behalf of the MoD to liaison with UNIT during this investigation,” Nick explained.

The Doctor nodded in understanding before looking to Aries. There was something about her and the way she held herself, but he couldn’t place what it was. “Are you MoD as well?” he asked.

“No, sir,” Aries replied, shaking her head. “Aries Prince, UNIT's Scientific Division,” she stated, holding her own hand out to the Doctor.

The Doctor’s eyebrows furrowed at her response, once again getting a feeling about the red head he couldn’t place. Something niggling at the back of his mind, but the moment he grabbed her hand to shake it, all his thoughts fled as a jolt passed through him at the contact. His eyes widened in surprise and disbelief at the sensation and was rather at a loss for words as it was then followed by a warmth that started at their connecting hands before flooding through his body.

Aries was confused when she felt the same jolt through her, but as her eyes met the Doctor's blue, she found that, for the first time in over a century, she didn’t want to question it. Not when it was immediately followed by a feeling of completion that seemed to fill the empty holes in her heart, or a warmth that seemed to caress her very soul.

Her senses went into overdrive and she found herself smelling a unique, but painfully familiar scent. One that had confused her ever since she had first smelt it. It was the scent of leather, old books, some sort of oil that reminded her of engines, and a distinct, overpowering smell of sweet electricity. It only took Aries a moment to realise that the sweet, electrical smell was something she had always associated with her time-turner and quickly realised that it was the scent of time. Something she was vaguely aware or smelling the first time entering the Doctor's TARDIS.

So engrossed in the Doctor's presence and what those scents meant, Aries startled badly, jerking her hand from the Doctor's when her phone started ringing. “Sorry,” she was quick to say when she noticed the Time Lord frowning slightly before pulling out her phone. The moment she saw who was calling her, Aries was surprised to feel annoyance towards the Brigadier for breaking up....well, whatever had just occurred. Glancing at Rose and the Doctor, the latter still watching her with an unreadable expression, Aries was quick to say, “I’ve got to take this,” before she moved away and out of earshot.

“Alistair, what can I do for you,” the red head said after answering the phone, glancing back to the Doctor and Rose as Nick led the pair to the vehicle.

 _“I was wondering if Commander Aspen had arrived yet?”_ Alistair asked.

Aries frowned slightly, “Yes, he has,” she told him, “And we’ve also just picked up the Code Blue,” she added as she continued to watch the Doctor, rather confused as to what had just happened between them. It took her a moment to realise that the Time Lord was also watching her and she quickly averted her gaze, her eyebrows furrowing.

_“Ah, yes. Sorry about not informing you, but Kate had only got the notification that he had been sighted not that long ago.”_

“That would explain why she had to cut our conversation short,” the red head said, “And it’s also why I have to go, Alistair. I’ll talk with you later.”

 _“I’ll be waiting,”_ Alistair replied before hanging up.

With a sigh, Aries pocketed her mobile before looking at her hand. She had no idea what had transpired between herself and the Doctor when he had shaken her hand. But what confused her the most was that she didn’t feel as alarmed about the sensations as she normally would have. Normally she would be demanding answers to know what he had done, but there was something deep inside her that was telling her that he had no idea it was going to happen. The shock that had been in his eyes was enough to give her pause, and the fact that it didn’t seem harmful was another. In fact, it gave her a sensation of peace she hadn’t felt in her whole life.

Shaking her head and dispelling those thoughts, Aries moved back to the car and got in the front beside Nick once again, raising an eyebrow at the conversation she could hear between Rose and the Doctor.

“This is a bit posh. If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago,” Rose commented.

The Doctor, who had been trying and failing at not staring at Aries, managed to tear his gaze away from the red head at his companions comment. “We’re not being arrested, we’re being escorted,” he explained to Rose. Before he knew it however, his gaze had once again fallen to the passenger seat in front of him and the woman who was seated there.

He couldn’t really fault himself, though. Ever since the war and his actions involved with finishing it, the Time Lord had come to the realisation that the chance of finding his Nesdra was lost to him. It was almost unheard of to find one’s Nesdra, or heart-mate outside of his own species, and with his people gone, along with Gallifrey, he had come to the conclusion that he would never find her.

But to have found her, right here on Earth and working for UNIT no less, the Doctor was rather at a loss for words.

“Where to?” Rose asked, managing to break the Doctor from his thoughts.

The Doctor looked back to his companion with a raised eyebrow, a small grin working its way upon his face for an entirely different reason, “Where do you think? Downing Street.”

Rose's expression turned surprised as she replied, “You’re kidding.”

“I’m not,” the Doctor told her, his gaze flickering to Aries as he saw her move slightly in her seat and glanced back at them.

“ _10_ Downing Street?” Rose asked in disbelief.

Frowning slightly as he looked back to his companion, the Time Lord nodded. “That's the one,” he stated, finding her continuing questions slightly annoying. As much as he may have been quite happy in indulging her curiosity in the past, right now it was only becoming a hindrance. All he wanted to do was talk with Aries and try and get to know her better.

“Oh, my god. I’m going to 10 Downing Street,” Rose said ecstatically before suddenly frowning as she eyed the Doctor. “How come?” she questioned.

The Doctor sighed, knowing that he wasn’t going to get a chance at talking with his Nesdra if he didn’t placate his companions seemingly never-ending questions. And it took quite a bit of restraint on his part not to tell her to quit pestering him. “I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years, I’ve visited this planet a lot of times, and I’ve been, er, noticed.”

Aries, who had been listening to the pair, couldn’t help but snort when she heard that, unable to stop herself. The thought of the Doctor being just noticed was an understatement.

“What?” the Time Lord questioned, looking at his Nesdra with a raised eyebrow as she turned further in her seat to look at them more clearly.

“‘Noticed' being the understatement of the year in that statement, Doctor,” Aries told him with an upturn of her lips.

The Doctor tugged at his ear as he fought down a grin. He couldn’t help but wonder just how much Aries had heard about him, knowing that she would have heard something as she worked for UNIT. And as much as he didn’t like some of UNIT's tactics, he couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved that Aries had knowledge of aliens, and possibly him. That prospect had him feeling a little at ease with who his Nesdra was.

“Now they need you?” Rose said with a small frown, realising that she wasn’t the only person on Earth with the knowledge of what was out there.

“Like it said on the news. They’re gathering experts in alien knowledge,” the Doctor replied, barely glancing at Rose as he continued, “And who’s the biggest expert of the lot?”

“Patrick Moore?” Aries couldn’t help but say, causing Nick to glance at her in amusement.

The blonde was feeling rather glad he was there as he listened to their banter and couldn’t keep the small smile off his face as it continued.

The Doctor pouted, “Apart from him,” he huffed, though he couldn’t help but grin. He was rather liking how easy it was to talk with Aries and was enjoying her teasing, even if it was at his expense.

“Oh, don’t you just love it,” Rose said, although she glanced to the red head with a frown. She didn’t know who Aries was and wasn’t too sure how to feel about the fact that the red head seemed familiar with who the Doctor was.

“I’m telling you. Lloyd George, he use to drink me under the table,” the Doctor exclaimed, earning a choked laugh from Aries which only caused his grin to grow. “Who’s the Prime Minister now?” he asked.

Aries glanced between the two front seats, “Tony Blair,” she told him, “Though I thought you would have known that,” she added.

The Time Lord’s expression became a little sheepish. “I may have missed a year,” he muttered, earning a raised eyebrow from his Nesdra.

Aries looked between Rose and the Doctor before shaking her head. “At least it was the right location,” she said nonchalantly as she turned to face the front, leaving the Doctor and Rose looking at her with different expressions.

“What do you mean?” Rose asked, but seeing that Aries wasn’t going to reply, she looked to the Doctor who seemed rather embarrassed and shocked. “What did she mean?” she asked the Time Lord.

“Er, it’s nothing,” the Doctor muttered, though he sent his Nesdra a half-hearted glare when he swore she was snickering under her breath.


	24. Infiltration Of The Slitheen

As the sedan pulled up to Downing Street, Aries almost groaned at the sight of the large group that was filled with reporters the police were trying to hold back. She did roll her eyes as she stepped out of the car, noticing the Doctor grinning like a loon as he waved at said reporters as they took photos.

Turning back to the car, looking through the opened door and at Nick, the red head asked, “Are you coming?” She wasn’t actually certain what his orders had been, except for dropping herself and the Doctor off at Downing Street.

“No,” the blonde replied with a shake of his head, “My orders were only to drop you off and then to return to pick you up later. I have some paperwork that needs my attention anyways, so it should keep me busy as I wait.”

Aries nodded in understanding. “Thank you,” she said before closing the door. She watched as Nick drove off before she straightened and headed towards the door that led into 10 Downing Street where the Doctor and Rose were already heading, though the Doctor had fallen behind his companion when he noticed Aries hadn’t followed them straight away.

“Everything okay?” he asked as they entered the building, noticing the change in her expression immediately. He couldn’t help but notice it, having seen how she was in the car ride here. But now her posture looked closed off, though he put it down to being surrounded by officials.

“Fine,” the red head replied, barely glancing at the Time Lord as her gaze swept over the room. She recognised a few UNIT officers she had trained under the alias of Eris and she couldn’t help but feel rather proud at how far of them had come, especially when she spotter Reynolds amongst the crowd. Her lip twitched downwards slightly as someone caught her eye. A brunette she recognised as Harriet Jones, to be precise. But it wasn’t that the woman shouldn’t have been there that had caught Aries’ eye, but the fact the woman looked alarmed and startled.

What Aries didn’t notice however, was the frown that appeared on the Doctor’s face at her reply. It, and the way his Nesdra held herself was so much different to how she had acted in the car ride over. She had almost seemed relaxed then, but as he watched her from the corner of his eye as her gaze swept over the room, missing nothing, he could see the signs. He knew a soldier when he saw one and everything Aries was currently doing was ticking every box.

As his Nesdra moved off, the Time Lord couldn’t help but wonder how someone who looked so young could have such a distinct reaction to a room full of people. It was as if she was searching for anything that might pose a threat, or looking for a way out and he got the impression that crowds were not something Aries enjoyed as she made her way carefully through the crowd, making sure not to get too close to anyone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene?” a males voice cut through the chattering officials and distracted the Doctor from his observations, “Quick as we can, please. It’s this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times.”

The man turned to the Time Lord and handed him an ID card, “Here’s your ID card,” he said before noticing Rose, “I’m sorry, your companion doesn’t have clearance.”

“I don’t go anywhere without her,” the Doctor said as he placed the lanyard around his neck, not noticing Aries approach them.

The man didn’t seemed persuaded by the Doctor as he continued, “You’re the Code Nine, not her. I’m sorry, Doctor,” he seemed to pause for a second, “It is the Doctor, isn’t it?” he asked before glancing at Rose, “She’ll have to stay outside.”

“Is everything okay here, Indra?” Aries questioned as she reached them, keeping a subtle gaze on Harriet as the brunette slowly approached them.

Indra seemed startled to see Aries, but was quick to recover. He had been informed by Kate as to what position Aries was currently using and knew that if she was only here as an advisor, she didn’t want her actual position to be known. He also knew that the only other person in the room that held a position equal to Aries was the Doctor, but the Time Lord wasn’t to know unless deemed absolutely necessary. “Ma’am, I was only informing the Doctor here that his companion doesn’t have the clearance to enter the conference,” he explained.

“And I’m saying that she stays with me,” the Doctor cut in, glancing between the two. He couldn’t help but notice how Indra reacted to the sight of Aries, and he was confused and intrigued as to why.

Aries frowned as she glanced at Rose. “It is true that she is your companion, Doctor,” she started as she looked to the Time Lord, “But rules are rules. I know that Miss Tyler may think she is an alien expert and I am....unaware as to what she may have seen in your travels,” she continued, well aware that Harriet was close enough to hear their conversation, “But without the proper debriefing and induction in UNIT’s protocols, she currently doesn’t hold the clearance to enter that room.”

The Doctor was about to say something, but Indra was quick to cut him off. “Look,” the man said, looking at the Doctor and Rose, “Even I don’t have clearance to go in there. I can’t let her in and that’s the fact.”

Rose, who had been frowning at the conversation, rather unsettled as to how they were speaking as if she wasn’t even there, finally spoke up. “It’s all right. You go,” she said, turning to the Doctor.

“Excuse me. Are you the Doctor,” Harriet asked as she finally made herself known to the others.

The Doctor didn’t seem to notice her as he spoke with Rose. “Sure?” he asked his companion who nodded.

Aries looked to Harriet in slight concern, hearing her voice waver slightly. It made her curious as to what was troubling the MP. Indra, however, frowned when he turned to Harriet, “Not now. We're busy. Can’t you go home?” he said, rather frustrated by the brunette.

“I just need a word in private,” Harriet explained.

“I suppose so,” the Doctor decided, “Just don’t get into any trouble,” he added before leaving the four of them, giving one last glance to Aries. He was rather hopeful she would follow him inside the room, but she didn’t seem to notice his leaving as she had turned her attention onto Harriet.

“You haven’t got clearance. Now leave it,” Indra told Harriet before turning to Rose, “I’m going to have to leave you with security.”

“That’s okay, Indra,” Aries spoke up and the three of them looked to her, “I can deal with this. I know you’re rather busy.”

Indra nodded at her, “Of course, Ma'am,” he said before moving off.

Aries turned to the blonde and brunette. “I believe we should go somewhere private,” she said before leading them away through the entrance hall.

Harriet seemed relieved at those words as she followed the red head. Rose, though, was feeling a little put out, not understanding why she couldn’t go into the conference with the Doctor. So what if she hadn’t done the induction or whatever with UNIT. She had travelled with the Doctor and probably had seen more than the red head she was currently following. She was also surprised that Indra would have left her with Aries and she felt like she was being babysat by someone who looked not much older than herself.

Aries glanced at Harriet as they walked. “What is troubling you, ma'am?” she questioned, noticing that the woman was about to burst into tears.

Harriet glanced at Aries in surprise, not having expected anyone to actually want to listen to her. “Harriet please, Miss....” she trailed off, not actually knowing the woman’s name.

“Aries,” the red head supplied.

“Aries,” Harriet nodded before she looked to the red head hopefully, “This friend of yours, he’s an expert, is that right?” she asked, “He knows about aliens?”

“What do you want to know?” the red head asked, her tone changing at the questions which surprised the pair following her. It was both guarded and wary.

Instead of answering, however, Harriet broke down in sobs, causing Aries to shift uncomfortably as Rose started rubbing the brunettes back.

\----

After Harriet had managed to pull herself together, much to Aries' relief that she wasn’t going to break down again, the brunette explained to Aries and Rose about what she had seen as the red head led them to the Cabinet Room.

To say that Aries wasn’t happy, as well as being slightly alarmed about an MP having access to the Emergency Protocols was an understatement, but it wasn’t her highest concern right now. Hearing that the acting Prime Minister, who just happened to be an alien, had managed to cancel the Cabinet Meeting and then murdered General Asquith was a bigger problem.

After Harriet had described the aliens and their odd comment on gas exchange, the red head had a fair idea as to what she was dealing with, but was confused as to _why_ they were here. It wasn’t an invasion, that much she was certain of. But to have them taking over such high positions of power without anyone knowing was rather unsettling.

A frown appeared on Aries face as she opened the door to the Cabinet Room and stepped inside. If it wasn’t an invasion, she knew that the aliens were after something. She just hadn’t worked out what.

Harriet rushed passed the red head with Rose, wanting to show them the remains of Oliver Charles that had been left hanging over the back of one of the chairs like a discarded coat. “They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!” she exclaimed.

Rose glanced at Aries, only to see the red head was still standing near the door with a frown as she muttered something under her breath, not even taking in what Harriet was saying. The blonde rolled her eyes before turning to Harriet. “It's alright. I believe you. It, it’s alien,” she tried to reassure the older woman while also not trying to become squeamish at the sight of the body, or what was left of Oliver. She knew that if Aries wasn’t going to do anything, that she, as the Doctor's companion, should. It would show them that she wasn’t just a child. “They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it,” she added before moving around the room.

Aries blinked at Rose's words, coming out of her thoughts and her frown deepened as she watched the blonde search the room. “There technology won’t help us stop them,” she stated, only to earn a glare from the blonde. “And besides, compression fields are quite common and not as advanced as you would think,” she added as her eyebrows furrowed when she started to pick up something unusual in the room. A scent that shouldn’t be there. A scent that was terribly familiar.

Rose shot Aries another glare, not liking the woman. She also didn’t like the idea that the red head did in fact seem to know more about aliens than she did and it made her feel rather stupid. She went to open a cupboard, opting to just ignore the woman, but Aries' voice stopped her.

“Miss Tyler, I don’t think you want to open that door,” the red head warned, her eyes on said door, her expression grim.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Harriet asked, looking between Aries and Rose as the red head took a few steps towards the cupboard.

“She’s just probably afraid of the bogeyman,” Rose rolled her eyes and turned the handle.

“Actually, I am more concerned abou-” Aries was cut off when Rose screamed as a male’s body fell out, causing the blonde to jump back away from it. “That,” the red head finished with a sigh as Harriet exclaimed, “Oh, my god! Is that the-”

“Tony Blair. Prime Minister, yes” Aries cut her off as she went to check over the body. Before she took a step, however, the door to the Cabinet Room opened and she spun on the spot, only to sigh in relief at seeing Indra.

“Ma’am, you forgot your ID card,” the man said as he entered, looking very troubled before noticing the body of Tony. “Oh, my god! That’s the Prime Minister!”

“We have established th-” Aries begun, only to cut herself off this time when she noticed Margret enter the room behind Indra and stiffened. With out a second thought, she pulled the man away from the door and the newcomer and behind her as she faced the alien masquerading as a large woman, taking the ID card he was holding in the process. She wasn’t to certain what the aliens were after, but she could quickly piece together what they were doing and was getting a bad feeling that this ‘conference’ was a trap. One that had succeeded in getting all the experts needed to stop them in one room. And if that was the case, it made anything given to them a chance to become a weapon, and the only thing she knew that had been handed to each expert were the ID cards.

“Oh! Has someone been naughty?” Margret asked with a smirk as she eyed the small group before her.

Indra, who had no idea what he had walked in on, spoke up. “That’s impossible. He left this afternoon,” he said, referring to the _former_ PM, “The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!”

“And who told you that?” Aries asked him, though she didn’t move, her eyes locked onto Margret.

“Ma’am?” Indra questioned, understandably confused before his eyes went to Margret.

The woman’s smirk only grew as she said, “Well, aren’t you a clever one.” She reached up to the sip hidden by her hairline.

\----

Inside the Conference Room, Joseph and Asquith, who where currently hiding in their body suits, made their way to the desk at the front of the room.

The Time Lord, having been the last to enter, picked up a booklet that outlined what they were to be discussing off a seat at the back and sat down. Not even really caring for the others in the room, his mind on why his Nesdra hadn’t joined him in the room and her odd change in behaviour the moment she had entered Downing Street, the Doctor flipped through the booklet, reading it at a speed that would have anyone’s head spinning as he tried to distract himself.

He frowned when he got to the end, just as Asquith spoke to the group of experts that had been gathered. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to have your attention please,” the alien called, causing the group to quieten, “As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant-”

“Now,” the Doctor cut the man/alien off as he stood up and approached the front of the room, “The really interesting bit happened three days ago, see, filed away under every other business. The North Sea, the satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation at one hundred fathoms like there was something down there....You were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens. Spaceships, pigs, massive diversion, from what?” he asked, looking at the experts before him.

“If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get?” he asked before pausing as it hits him like a bludger to the face. “Us. They get us. It’s not a diversion, it’s a trap,” he breathes, his hearts beginning to race as his eyes search for Aries in the crowd, already knowing she wasn’t there but couldn’t stop himself. He finally found his Nesdra, only to find that there was a possibility that she was in danger.

It took him a moment to notice that everyone was waiting for him to continue, rather unsure but intrigued by what he was say so the Doctor shook his head. “This is all about us,” he continued on somewhat coolly, hiding the fact that his hearts still hadn’t calmed, “Alien experts, the only people with the knowledge on how to fight them, gathered together in one room.”

The Doctor was cut off when Joseph let out a loud fart and he turned to the disguised alien, raising his eyebrows and fixing the alien with a pointed look, clearly not impressed. “Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I’m saving the world?” he asked rather rudely. He didn’t have time to deal with this.

“Would you rather silent but deadly?” Joseph questioned before he and Asquith broke down into sniggers. The Doctor just stared at them as Asquith stood up and removed his hat and undid the zip on his forehead. Joseph just broke down further into manic laughter as Asquith removed the skin suit and stepped out of it, revealing a large, nearly eight foot tall alien with incongruous large black eyes on a small, almost baby-like face.

The Doctor stared at the alien, transfixed.

“We are the Slitheen,” Asquith, or the alien that had been using the General’s body addressed to the entire, stunned room.

“Thank you all for wearing your ID cards,” Joseph said as he stood up and removed a device from his pocket, “They’ll help to identify the bodies.”

Without warning, the man pressed the button on the device and everyone in the room was bathed in electric light. The Doctor fell to his knees with a shout as his whole body was rocked with pain, all the while Joseph and ‘Asquith’ watch on, the former with a savage pleasure in his eyes while the later laughed.

The Doctor eyes lock onto the aliens and he gritted his teeth, fighting through the pain. All that was on his mind was Aries and he needed to find her. He wasn’t going to lose her and if they had harmed her....

With that running through his mind, the Time Lord managed to shake of the electricity from his body as he ripped the lanyard from around his neck. Sweating, he staggered to his feet with the ID card held firmly in his hand. “Deadly to humans, maybe,” he states as the two aliens stared at him in shock. Before he could approach the aliens, the pair let out howls of pain as they were themselves, electrocuted.

The Time Lord stood there for a moment, wondering what had just happened before rushing out of the room, dropping the ID card on the way.

\----

Inside the Cabinet Room, Rose, Indra and Harriet watched on in horror as a blue light flooded the room and an another Slitheen wiggled its way out of the skin suit. When the light faded, all three of the onlookers stared at the green alien with wide eyes.

Aries, having her suspicions confirmed as to what she was up against, watched the alien warily as ‘Margret’ flexed her three long fingers in relief. She was already working on how to get the three behind her away as she slowly started backing up, causing the others to do the same.

Without warning, Margret lashed out at Aries, trying to get a hold of the red head, but she managed to duck out of the way in time and get behind the creature. The alien turned to her and lashed out again with a growl, not liking how evasive its prey was as Aries once again was quick to get out of ‘Margret’s’ striking range.

The red head suddenly let out a cry of pain and fell to her knees as she was bathed in an electric light, similar to the light that was occurring in the Conference Room, when the ID card she was holding was activated.

“Ah, that would be my brothers,” ‘Margret’ said with a disturbingly satisfied smile as she watched Aries writhe in pain for a moment before turning to the others.

Aries watched on, her teeth grinding together as ‘Margret’ advanced on the others. She closed her eyes as she got a flashback, trying to block it, and the pain, out.

_“And here I thought you said she could do ‘magical’ things,” a male sneered at Luka. He had an odd, faded tattoo of four blue arrows pointing towards a red circle on the side of his neck and Aries didn’t know what it was about that tattoo, but something about it was familiar. Something that caused her to rub the side of her own neck with a frown._

_“I told you, Dustin. Just ask her. She will help you. She’s been my aunty since I was born and she hasn’t ag-”_

_“Luka!” Aries hissed, cutting the young man off as she glared at the other man. She knew he had running with the wrong crowds and had even tried to get him away from them. But had never thought he would have told them anything about her._

_The man, Dustin, turned to Aries with a triumphant smirk, getting the reaction that he wanted. “Maybe she just needs a bit of persuasion,” he said before grabbing Luka by the throat._

_“Let him go!” Aries demanded, taking a step towards the man as Luka’s eyes widened in fear and shock._

_“Maybe this might help you remember your powers,” Dustin stated idly as he pulled out a switchblade and pressed against Luka’s cheek._

“No,” Aries hissed as her eyes snapped open. She managed to get to her feet and advance on the alien, the ID card clenched in her hand as electricity coursed through it, and her. Her eyes swirled as they landed on the compression field that was worn around ‘Margret’s’ neck. All that was running through her mind was that this was _not_ going to be another Jamie and Luka.

Rose, Indra and Harriet backed further into the room as Margret advanced on them, until she let out a cry as she seemed enveloped in electricity.

“Don’t just stand there!” Aries’ strained voice cut through their surprise as she stumbled from behind the alien. “Run!” she ordered, her eyes no longer red.

It seemed to break the trio out of their shock and they all quickly made there way out of the Cabinet Room.

Indra was quick to help Aries out as she stumbled and felt her twitch slightly in his grasp. “Ma’am?” he questioned, unsure if she was okay. From what he could tell, she had been electrocuted badly, just like the alien and if it had been anyone else, they should have been either unconscious....or dead. But he knew that Aries was far stronger than she looked, though he still worried for her.

“I’m fine,” Aries huffed as they continued to make their way through various unoccupied rooms and away from ‘Margret’.

Harriet suddenly paused before shouting, “No, wait!” The others stopped and looked at her, bewildered that she would stop while they were clearly being chased by an eight foot alien. “They’re still in there. The Emergency Protocols. We need them,” she quickly explained.

“Keep moving,” Aries told them as the sound of ‘Margret’ smashing through a door reached her ears, “We don’t need them.”

“But,” Harriet started to argue.

“Run!” Aries shouted again, causing Harriet and Rose to jump before they all started moving again.

Moments later found the small group hiding behind a door as the alien walked passed. They silently stepped out of the doorway when Aries gave them the all clear, only to be stopped when a lift unexpectedly opened.

To say the Doctor was surprised to notice another Slitheen as the lift doors opened would have been wrong. What truly surprised the Time Lord was the sight of Harriet, Rose, Indra and his Nesdra, the latter his was relieved to see was alive, try and sneak passed the alien. His eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of Aries leaning against Indra and had to fight down the jealousy that sparked to life at the sight, but it never had a chance to be settle when he noticed his Nesdra’s face flicker in pain.

His gaze went back to the Slitheen, who in fact, was surprised to see him. Managing a tight smile, he greeted it with a false cheeriness, his jealousy having been replaced by anger. “Hello!” he said, distracting the alien and allowing the small group to slip passed it before closing the lift doors with his sonic when the Slitheen roared at him.

Rose, Harriet, Indra and Aries reached a sitting room that held a large settee, drinks cabinet, and a folding screen by the window that was used to help keep out the draughts.

“Hide!” Aries ordered quietly, making her way over to the screen with Indra.

Rose hid behind the cabinet while Harriet chose to hide behind one of the floor-length curtains.

\----

The small group froze as they heard the door to the sitting room swing open and ‘Margret’ enter.

“Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you with my big, green lips,” the alien taunted as she moved further into the room.

 _Like hell,_ Aries thought, her nose wrinkling with disgust as she tried to keep her breathing quite. It was becoming easier, but being electrocuted earlier was proving difficult to keep herself still and so the red head closed her eyes and focused on her occlumency while still being alert to the sounds around her.

Rose, having stuck a peak from behind the cabinet she was hiding behind and saw that the creature wasn’t looking in her direction, quickly moved to the curtain that was near Harriet, having realised just how exposed her chosen hiding spot had been.

Much to the horror of the hidden occupants, two more Slitheen entered the room, causing ‘Margret’ to turn to them. “My brothers,” she greeted.

“Happy hunting?” the one that had been masquerading as Joseph Green asked.

‘Margret’ smiled a rather disturbing smile. “It’s wonderful,” she commented, “The more you prolong it, the more they stink.”

Indra glanced at Aries in concern when she inhaled sharply and stiffened. She quickly shook her head at him, silently telling him that nothing was wrong even if she wanted to hit her head against something at forgetting that this species of alien had a rather superior sense of smell.

“Sweat and fear,” ‘Asquith’ commented.

‘Joseph’ sniffed the air, taking in the scents around him. “I can smell an old girl and boy. Stale birds and brittle bones,” he remarked, sounding rather delighted by what he found.

“And a ripe youngster, all hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before she snaps,” ‘Margret’ added.

‘Asquith' frowned as he copied their actions, inhaling deeply. “There’s something else,” he said, sounding rather confused, “I'm unsure what to make of it,” he continued, glancing at ‘Joseph', “It smells different, but not unlike the man downstairs.”

‘Joseph' nodded in agreement as ‘Margret' got closer to the curtain Rose was hiding behind. With a smirk, she quickly pulled it back, revealing the blonde and causing her to scream.

“No!” Harriet cried out as she jumped from behind the other curtain, “Take me first! Take me!”

The door to the sitting room suddenly burst open and the Doctor stepped into the room with a fire extinguisher. He sprayed it two Slitheen closest him, covering them with CO2. “Out with me!” he ordered.

Rose was quick to pull the curtain down over ‘Margret' and darted towards the Doctor with Harriet while Indra helped Aries. Even though the red head seemed to be doing better, he wasn’t going to take any chances however, knowing that it’d be his head if anything happened to the woman.

“Who the hell are you?” the Doctor asked, glancing between Harriet and Indra, his eye lingering on the latter slightly before falling onto Aries.

“Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North,” the brunette introduced, pulling her ID out to show him.

The Doctor was about to reply, but noticed that the fire extinguisher was now empty. Dropping the item, the group were quick to leave the room, the Time Lord managing to get Aries away from Indra and help support her. Even if he knew that the man had been only trying to help her, she was his Nesdra and couldn’t help the feeling of jealous that appeared at the sight of her leaning against another man.

“We....we need to get to the Cabinet Room,” Aries managed to state between breaths as she ran, still being half supported by the Doctor. She was feeling better given what she had just gone through, but was still a little unsteady on her feet.

“The Emergency Protocols are in there. They’ll give instructions for aliens,” Harriet quickly agreed.

Aries shook her head. “We don’t need them,” she said, surprising the Doctor and gaining a confused look from Harriet. “They’re redundant,” she explained to the brunette.

“How do you know that?” Harriet questioned with a frown, glancing at the red head who looked to only be in early twenties. Her eyes went to the Doctor when he spoke.

“Doesn’t matter,” the Time Lord stated as the sound of the Slitheen grew closer.

\----

The moment the group made it the Cabinet Room, the Doctor led Aries to a chair before grabbing a decanter of alcohol from a side table and stood in the doorway as the Slitheen reached the room.

He held the decanter out threateningly towards the aliens as he pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the bottle. “One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off,” he threatened.

The Slitheen immediately took a step back into the outer office, rather alarmed at the threat.

“Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?” the Doctor questioned. His tone was no longer threatening, although he didn’t relax. These aliens had harmed his Nesdra and he wasn’t taking any chance to be caught off guard by them again.

Aries lifted her head off the table where she had been resting it to look towards the doorway with a frown. There was something familiar about the name he had used, but she couldn’t place it.

“They’re aliens,” Harriet told the Doctor and Aries rolled her eyes.

“No! And here I thought they were bloody hippogriffs,” she muttered under her breath, earning a muffled snort from the Doctor, though he didn’t look away from the three aliens. She glanced at him with a frown before remembering that he probably had heard her, having remembered that he held senses that were higher than humans.

“Yes. I got that, thanks,” the Time Lord said, his tone sarcastic.

“Who are you, if not human?” ‘Joseph' asked. His gaze flickered passed the Doctor and to Aries momentarily, but it was enough to make the Doctor pause in surprise.

He fought the urge to look back at his Nesdra, wanting to know what the Slitheen had meant, but it wasn’t time. Once again his was annoyed that he couldn’t question her.

If he had, he would have seen Aries’ frown deepened as she looked at ‘Joseph'. It hadn’t been missed by her either when the aliens gaze had landed on her and her thoughts turned to the test that she had forgotten about since all this mess had started. It made her think of what the result would be when she got back to her house, and if it was a match, just what the sample was off.

“Who’s not human?” Harriet asked as she looked at the people in the room, all the while successfully breaking the Doctor and Aries from their thoughts.

“He’s not human,” Rose was quick to answer, gesturing to the Doctor.

“He’s not human?” Indra asked in surprise and caused Aries to jump in surprise, not having even noticed he was standing behind her. When she glanced at him, he offered her an apologetic smile.

“Can I have a bit of hush?” the Doctor snapped, rather irritated by the interruptions.

“Sorry,” Indra replied sheepishly.

“So, what’s the plan?” the Doctor asked, turning his attention back to the Slitheen.

Aries groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose as Harriet interrupted the Doctor again, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. _Can’t the woman keep her curiosity to herself? This is hardly the time for twenty questions,_ she groused mentally.

“But he’s got a Northern accent,” the brunette remarked.

“Lots of planets have a north,” it was Aries this time that snapped, “And he said hush.”

Harriet looked to Aries in startled surprise. She was even more surprised, however, when she noticed Indra look down to his feet as if he had just been given and order as he muttered, “Sorry, Ma'am.”

The Doctor once again fought the urge to look at Aries as he looked at the three aliens expectantly. “Come on. You’ve got a spaceship in the North Sea,” he stated, unknowingly causing Aries to grow alert at the information, “It's transmitting a signal. You’ve murdered your way to the of the government. What for, invasion?”

‘Asquith’ scoffed, offended by the Doctor's words. “Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?” he asked.

The Doctor frowned slightly, not having expected that answer. “Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?” he questioned.

“The Slitheen race?” ‘Asquith’ asked, rather confused.

“It’s not their race,” Aries cut in as she stood up from the chair and approached the aliens, earning surprised looks from all, “They’re from Raxacoricofallapatorius. Slitheen is their surname,” she continued, remembering where she had heard the name, “They’re a family who’s only goal is to make a profit as they murder their way through the universe. My question, however,” she paused as she glanced between the three aliens, “Is what kind of profit can you make on this God-forsaken rock? It is not even advanced enough for space travel, let alone anything of use to you.”

The Doctor looked between Aries and the Slitheen, rather confused as to how she knew who the aliens were.

“You’ve heard of us?” ‘Margret’ asked in surprise, though her beady eyes narrowed slightly on the red head.

Aries levelled the Slitheen a look she knew was almost identical to the one her father gave any student he felt were a complete dunderhead for wasting his time with inane questions....which generally was all the time.

To her internal amusement, it seemed to also provoke the same reaction that Potter and Weasley were forever giving that look, with an added bonus. The Slitheen glared at her, and in a move that Aries knew that Potter and Weasley would never had done to her father, ‘Margret’ took a step towards Aries, her arm raising with the intent to grab her.

She stopped the moment the Doctor stepped in front of Aries, his expression clearly telling the Slitheen that she had just made the wrong move. His expression was angry, but the rage that was in his eyes caused ‘Margret' to take a step back in alarm, her eyes widening.

“Ah, excuse me?” ‘Asquith’ spoke up, stepping partially in front of his sister and breaking the Doctor's gaze from her, feeling a shiver go up his spine when their eyes connected. He looked away, unable to hold it and rather unnerved and he gestured to the sonic the Time Lord was still holding. “You’re device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?” he questioned, hoping to break the tension that was thick in the air. They were almost complete with their plans and didn’t want to stick around any longer than needed.

Like a switch had been flicked, the Doctor blinked and glanced at ‘Asquith', a grin growing on his face that did nothing to put the three aliens at ease. Even if his eyes no longer showed his fury.

“You’re making it up,” ‘Asquith’ accused.

“Ah, well!” the Time Lord shrugged, his voice unsettling the Slitheen further as it sounded almost cheerful, “Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you’re gonna need it,” he continued, not noticing that Harriet was clutching the red box that held the Emergency Protocols.

Aries pinched the bridge of her nose again with a sigh as she took the bottle off the Time Lord. “You pass it to the left first,” she answered his questioning and confused look.

It took the Doctor a moment to realise what she meant when he glanced at Harriet and noticed she was clutching the case. “Sorry,” he said, tugging on his ear.

“Don’t you think we should run?” Rose asked the Doctor, trying to bring them back to the fact that they had three killer aliens in front of them.

The Time Lord just grinned in a way that had Aries shaking her head before he started to ramble. “Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, the was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet’s in session....” The Doctor’s ramble was cut off when Aries lifted a small panel and pressed a button and Harriet and Rose both jumped in surprise as metal shutters slammed down over all the windows and doors.

“What did you do that for?” the Time Lord asked Aries with a pout.

“I was getting a headache,” the red head shrugged as she moved back to the large table in the middle of the room and sat down.

The Doctor continued to pout as Harriet and Indra shared a glance, the latter just shrugging to the former before he also moved to the table.

Rose however, looked around the room and seemed to notice something. A frown appeared on her face as she turned to the Doctor. “How do we get out?” she asked him.

The Doctor, who was still pouting at his Nesdra for cutting his ramble off, glanced around the room himself and realised the same thing his companion had. The Slitheen may not be able to get in, but with the metal shutters in place, they also couldn’t get out.

“He’ll think of something,” Aries spoke up, causing the Doctor to look at her in surprise. The red head shrugged at him as she poured herself a drink, “Or I will.”

The Doctor was quick to take the glass from her, along with the decanter, which caused Aries to raise an eyebrow at him. “You’ve got a headache. Alcohol is not very helpful with dealing with them,” he told her with a smirk.

She wasn’t the only one who could ruin someone’s fun.


	25. World War Three

After laying the body of the late Prime Minister, Anthony Blair, out in a small store room, the Doctor noticed Indra was watching Aries with concern. It reminded him that she had been injured and was quick to make his way over to the pair.

“I didn’t quite catch your name earlier,” he said, looking at Indra as he approached.

Indra turned to the Doctor with a small smile and inclined his head to him. “Indra Ganesh,” he introduced himself.

“Indra,” the Doctor repeated before he frowned, “Can you tell me what happened?” he questioned, glancing at Aries as she sat back in the chair, her eyes closed. He wanted to know how his Nesdra had been injured and even though he had felt jealous of the mans previous actions, he knew that they had only been to help her.

Indra nodded and proceeded to tell him what had occurred after he had gone to give Aries her ID card.

As the Doctor listened, he was silently surprised, and a little uncomfortable at how Indra spoke. It was almost like he was in the middle of debriefing with his commanding officer, except the Doctor never had to ask the man any questions as he explained everything without needing to be prompted. When Indra was finished, the Doctor just stared at him for a second before turning to his Nesdra who was watching them with one eye opened.

“That was you?” he asked in disbelief. He had been surprised after he had managed to remove the ID card from around his neck and the Slitheen had been electrocuted. His surprise, however, was quick to be replaced with concern. “Are you okay?” he questioned her, knowing that Aries had also been electrocuted.

Aries frowned, eyeing the Doctor for a moment. He wasn’t the same man that she remembered quite yet and she knew that this was his past, but that same level of concern was there in his eyes that she had seen over sixty years ago during the Blitz. She silently wondered if he had always been like that, knowing what he had lived through before pushing the thought away. Nodding slight, Aries affirmed that she was fine, even though she knew that the amount of electricity that had passed through her from the ID card should have killed her. Once again, she was reminded of how little she truly knew about herself, and until she could see what that test showed, about what she was.

The Doctor frowned as he waited for Aries’ reply, once again noticing the difference between the young woman in front of him and the one he had met earlier. His frown deepened slight as he watched various emotions flicker rapidly over Aries face before she nodded and was surprised to realise that unlike other humans, she was very hard to read.

Most people he could almost tell what they were thinking just by looking at them, but Aries’s expression was always neutral unless she wanted it to be otherwise. And her eyes were much the same. They were, from what the Doctor could see, a beautiful silver-grey. A rather unique combination for humans. But they held a wary edge and coldness to them and always seemed to be watching, though they revealed nothing about Aries’ feelings or thoughts themselves.

Neither, Aries, Indra or the Doctor knew, or cared, that they were being watched by Rose. The blonde couldn’t help but scowl slightly at the fact that the Doctor had gone straight to check on the red head and hadn’t even spared her a glance. Aries hadn’t been the only one who had been attacked and chased by a bunch of Slitheen and the blonde couldn’t work out why the Time Lord was taking such an interest in the red head.

He had chased her down all the way through Cardiff in their last adventure after she had been kidnapped and couldn’t understand how he had just seemed to have forgotten her after what they had been through. A spark of jealousy flared to life in her gut as she thought, _He saved my life not once. Not twice, but four times! That has to mean something, doesn’t it?_

Rose pulled out the TARDIS key the Doctor had given her earlier and a small smile appeared on her face. _Yes, it has to mean something. I doubt he gives the key to his ship to just anyone,_ she thought as she carefully placed it back in her pocket. “Doctor?” she called, causing the trio to glance at her. “What are we going to do?” she questioned.

The Doctor glanced at Aries, blinking when he noticed that she looked to be concentrating. Her lips were tugged downwards at the corners and her eyebrows were ever so slightly pinched together as her eyes slowly scanned the room. Occasionally, her eyes would flicker from side to side, almost as if she was reading or trying to work out something.

Someone cleared their throat, causing the Doctor to look in their direction and noticed that Indra was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “Right,” he said as he looked away from the man, feeling slightly embarrassed at getting caught staring at Aries. “What have we got?” he continued, making his way around the large table, “Any terminals, anything?”

“No,” Indra told him, glancing at Aries before shaking his head and looking back to the Time Lord, “This place is antique.”

“And with the installation of the shutters after the mortar attack by the IRA in ‘91', they made it so that nothing could get in or out of here. Which means out phones are useless,” Aries added with a frown as she pulled out her phone and mentally adding to her to-do list that she may need to find a way to receive reception anywhere in case something like this happens again.

The Doctor opened his mouth to tell her that they weren’t completely useless, but Rose spoke up first. “What I don’t get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn’t they use him as a disguise?” she asked, looking at the others.

“He’s too slim,” the Doctor replied as if that explained everything, “They’re big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans.”

“But the Slitheen are about eight feet,” Rose exclaimed, “How do they fit inside?”

“That’s the device around their necks,” Aries said as she stood up and stretched her legs, feeling rather stiff, “Like I said earlier, it’s a compression field. Literally shrinks them down a bit,” her nose wrinkled in disgust as she crossed an arm over her chest to stretch it, “That’s why there’s all that gas. It’s a big exchange.”

“Wish I had a compression field. I could fit into a size smaller,” Rose muttered.

Aries blinked, her arms falling to her side at the blondes words, not having expected her to say anything like that.

Harriet looked to Rose, rather aghast at what the young woman had just said, “Excuse me, people are dead! This is no time for making jokes.”

“Sorry,” Rose said, though much to Aries’ disbelief, she didn’t sound it. “You get use to this stuff when you’re friends with him,” she continued as she gestured to the Doctor who had started scanning the walls around the room with his sonic.

Aries narrowed her eyes as she glared at the blonde, feeling herself bristle at the other woman’s words. “That is utterly disrespectful and I would have thought that in your travels with the Doctor, you would have learnt some compassion along the way,” she hissed, taking a step towards Rose.

Harriet, Indra and the Doctor all stoped in surprise when they heard Aries’ tone.

“People have died,” the red head continued, oblivious to the others as her anger towards the blonde grew. Her voice came out quiet, not unlike her father's venomous purr as she continued, “I would have thought that, out of anything he has shown you, you’d have some sympathy for the people who have lost their lives.” Her eyes flashed dangerously and a breeze started to pick up around her, causing Rose to take a step back in fear. “But I guess I was wrong,” she sneered in disgust, “You have only cared about yourself and what _you_ can gain from a crisis.”

The wind picked up further around the irate red head as she took another slow step towards Rose. Her mind was swirling, filled with the memories and faces of all the people she had lost throughout the years while she lived on. None were more painful then when she had watched her father die before her very eyes.

“Those people had families. Sons, daughters, mothers, fathers. And those families will _never_ see their loved ones again.” Aries face took on a dark look as she continued, her mind playing back her father's murder, “But like some spoilt little brat, all you can think about is fucking dress sizes,” she snapped.

The Doctor, who had been staring at Aries in shock and surprise, was quick to snap out of it when he noticed she was trembling and quickly made his way over to his Nesdra. He didn’t have to even ask to realise that his Nesdra's response to Rose's words had hit something personal. He could see it in her eyes. And as surprised as he was at Aries’ ability, he knew he needed to try and calm her down.

He stepped in front of Aries, blocking Rose from her line of sight and caused his Nesdra to pause in her advance. He wasn’t to certain what she had been about to do, but felt relieved that some sense of recognition flashed across her eyes as she looked to him. Taking that as a good sign, he tentatively held out his hand and slowly grabbed hers, linking his fingers through hers.

He was surprised to notice that his Nesdra's silver-grey eyes were slightly darker, as well being flecked with a dark red that glowed ever so slightly. But was quick to push his surprise away when she went to take a step away from him, her expression becoming confused and alarmed as the wind picked up further. The moment he did so, she stopped and his eyebrows knitted slightly as he squeezed her hand, trying to help keep her grounded.

He didn’t say anything as he took a calming breath. Just waited patiently for a sign that told him that Aries was coming back to herself. The Doctor didn’t know how he knew that what Rose had said had caused, from what he had observed, his usually calm and collected Nesdra to almost lose control, but he wasn’t questioning it either.

It took a moment before the Doctor felt Aries’ fingers curl around his hand and a large exhale was heard. The wind that had been blowing around her vanished and she blinked a few times. When their eyes connected once again, confusion flickered through Aries' while the Doctor’s were still calm, though slightly concerned.

Aries frowned at the Doctor, wondering why he was standing in front of her before she realised what had happened. Her gaze dropped to their hands and she quickly unlinked her fingers and went to pull away, but the Doctor's hand only tightened around hers, causing her head to snap up and look at him in alarm.

“It's okay,” the Doctor murmured softly as he gave her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “What Rose said was wrong. Losing a loved one is painful and hard. The pain, guilt, sadness, and loss never truly leave you, but I know that even though those feelings may never fade away completely, it does get easier to live with when you find something that gives you purpose.”

Giving her hand one last squeeze, the Doctor let it go and took a step away from Aries to give her some more room. Aries frowned as she glanced at the hand he had been holding before looking back to the Time Lord, ignoring how she could still feel the ghost of his touch. She recalled how he had done the same thing after what had happened on Satellite Five during their impromptu ‘dinner’, and although she was a little embarrassed about having it happen a second time, she was intrigued but cautious as to how _he_ was able to calm her.

But it was his words that had her attention. The only time she had seen him show any semblance of emotion towards his own past had been when he had been holding a gun, aimed at the alien that had caused him so much grief and rage. And as she looked at him, she could see it hidden behind the defences he used to hide his pain from the world. There was pain and sadness in his eyes, as well as an understanding. But there was also something else. Aries blinked, her lips turning downwards slightly as she saw something she hadn’t truly noticed before.

Hope.

Hope for what, she didn’t know. But she knew that was what it was. It was such a profound emotion that Aries looked away, unable to hold his gaze any longer. She couldn’t understand how someone who lived through so much, who had lost everything still held onto hope. It made her eyes burn as something occurred to her.

What did she have to hope for?

Everything she did, every accomplishment she made. What was it for?

“Ma’am?” Indra’s concerned voice cut through the silence that had fallen over the room and Aries blinked, almost having forgotten that there were others in the room with her and the Doctor. Giving the Time Lord one last confused glance, she turned her attention to Indra, trying to push her swirling thoughts away.

As she looked to Indra, her gaze met a concerned and baffled Harriet before falling onto the case that was sitting on the table in front of her. Deciding that she needed something to distracted her, she moved towards the case.

She missed the Doctor’s frown as he watched her, once again concerned as to just what had happened to his Nesdra. Though seeing that for now, Aries looked to be calm and not about to ‘blow up’ again, however possible it was for her to hold such abilities, the Doctor's own eyes scanned the room before they also found Harriet, ignoring Rose scowling at Aries and Indra’s concerned gaze.

“Harriet Jones,” he said suddenly, something about the brunette niggling in the back of his mind. The brunette in question glanced up from what Aries was doing to look at the Time Lord, along with the other two humans, their expressions equally confused.

“I’ve heard that name before,” the Doctor elaborated, seeing their confusion. “Harriet Jones. You’re not famous for anything, are you?” he questioned.

Aries, who was listening in with half an ear sighed as she realised that she had been right. She knew that the Protocols were redundant, but it had been a while since she had seen them and wanted to see of there had been any changes she hadn’t been aware of, but had come up empty.

“Oh, hardly,” Harriet scoffed with a frown before looking back to Aries as the red head moved away from the table. Taking her chance, Harriet begun to search through the case herself, though she doubted that there would be anything of use in them. She was still getting the feeling, even without Aries' outburst moments earlier, that there was something about the red head. Something important that she just couldn’t place.

The Doctor furrowed his brows, glancing between his Nesdra and Harriet before his gaze stayed on the brunette, “Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?”

“Lifelong backbencher I’m afraid,” the brunette said as she continued looking through the case, “And a fat lot of use I’m being now. Aries was right, these Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they’re all,” she paused, glancing towards Aries as she made herself comfortable in a chair across from her, “Unreachable,” she finished, changing what she was originally going to say.

“Hasn’t it got, like, defence codes and things?” Rose spoke up, deciding that she had been silent for long enough, “Couldn’t we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?” she added before noticing the looks she was receiving from the others, “What?”

“You’re a very violent young woman,” Harriet stated with a frown before she looked away from Rose when Indra made his way over to Aries.

Out of the corner of her eye, she also saw that the Doctor was watching the man’s every move and her curiosity came to the forefront of her mind, wondering how the three knew each other. Her eyes flickered to the Time Lord when she noticed the look on his face and it didn’t take a genius to see that he felt protective of the red head as he continued to closely watch the other two. But there was something else in his expression. Something that was missing in Indra's.

“I’m serious,” Rose’s voice cut through Harriet's thoughts, “We could,” the blonde continued, not seeing anything wrong with her view.

“And _I_ am telling you that we are not,” Aries spoke up, her eyes locked onto Rose with frank disapproval.

Rose scowled as she crossed her arms across her chest, not liking the way Aries was speaking to her. “And who are you to tell me what to do?” she questioned rudely.

Aries went to stand up, but Indra stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder as he handed her something. “Ma'am, I found this by the doorway,” he explained. His gaze went to the Time Lord who had stiffened the moment he had placed his hand on Aries shoulder and seeming to realise something, Indra removed his hand and took a step back, seeing the Doctor slowly relax.

Looking at the ID card that Indra had given her, Aries missed their exchange. She pursed her lips and looked up from the card and towards Rose before pocketing it inside her coat, realising what Indra wasn’t saying out loud. She ran a hand through her hair, silently wondering if it had been such a good idea to appear as just a Scientific Advisor, although she knew that the situation, whatever it was, wasn’t serious enough to be elevated to activate her title as Royal Commander....yet.

Glancing around the room to the four others, Aries’ eyebrows creased. “If we were to even consider going nuclear,” she shot Rose a look of disapproval when the blonde grinned, “Which we are _not_ ,” she told the young woman tersely, causing the grin to disappear, “The release codes needed for such a strike are kept secret by the United Nations.”

The Doctor frowned as he looked at Aries. “Say that again,” he said, trying to figure out what was so familiar about the way she spoke. There was something he couldn’t place, and the more he thought about it, the further it slipped from his mind.

Aries blinked and turned her attention on the Doctor, rather confused by his words. “What, about the codes?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing further. She would have thought that he would be the one person who knew more about them than anyone.

“Anything. All of it,” he replied, hoping he could figure out what he was missing.

“Well, the British Isles can’t gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN,” Aries told him, still rather confused.

“Like that’s every stopped them,” Indra scoffed.

“Exactly,” Aries looked to the man, “And given our past record,” she continued with a grimace, “The codes have thankfully been taken out of the government’s hands and given to the UN.” She turned back to the Time Lord with a slight frown, “Is this important?” she asked, still wondering why he wanted to hear about the codes. From what she knew of the Doctor and what she had been told, nuclear weapons were the last thing he’s ever think of using.

“Everything’s important,” the Doctor told her, frowning as the feeling left him before shaking his head.

“If only we knew what the Slitheen wanted,” Harriet stated, gaining their attention, “Listen to me. I’m saying Slitheen as if it’s normal.”

“What do they want, though?” Rose spoke up, looking to the Doctor for answers. She was feeling like they thought she wasn’t even there and couldn’t help but notice how the Time Lord had been keeping his attention on Aries, his eyes never really leaving the red head and barely even sparing her a glance.

“Well, they’re just one family, so it’s not an invasion. They don’t want a Slitheen World. They’re out to make money. That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset,” the Doctor said as he started to think over what the aliens could be after.

“Like what, gold? Oil? Water?” Harriet suggested.

The Doctor blinked and looked to Harriet. “You’re very good at this,” he remarked with a grin.

“Thank you,” Harriet said, feeling rather helpful for once.

“Harriet Jones,” the Doctor muttered in thought, the familiarity of the name becoming annoying as he couldn’t work out why, “Why do I know that name?”

Aries leant back in her seat, closing her eyes as she shifted though her mind, searching for the memory of the book she had read about Raxacoricofallapatorius and the Slitheen family, hoping it might hold some answers or insight into what they were dealing with. There had only been a small note in the book in regards to the family having been exiled, but was rather hopeful that the other information might hold the key.

Her eyes snapped open when there was a beep and she frowned, wondering where it had come from. It sounded suspiciously like a phone.

“Oh, that’s me,” Rose said as she pulled out her phone, causing Aries to blink in surprise.

“But we’re sealed off. How did you get a signal?” Indra asked, taking the words right out of Aries’ mouth.

“He zapped it,” Rose answered, gesturing to the Doctor, “Super phone.”

“Then we can phone for help,” Harriet said, turning to the Doctor, “You must have contacts.”

The Doctor grimaced as he glanced at Aries. “Downstairs, yeah,” he replied.

“It’s Mickey,” Rose spoke up as she checked her message.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, “Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we’re busy,” he said.

“Yeah,” Rose said with a grin, “He’s not so stupid after all,” she showed the Doctor the picture Mickey had sent her.

It was of a Slitheen being electrocuted.

_\----_

_“No, no, no, no, no. Not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!”_ Mickey exclaimed to Rose over the phone, his voice loud enough that Aries’ could hear him from where she was still seated.

 _“I could’ve died!”_ a familiar female voice was heard and it only took Aries a second to place it as Jackie Tyler.

“Is she all right, though?” Rose asked as she paced the room, “Don’t put her on, just tell me.”

The Doctor snatched Rose’s phone from her and put it up to his ear, ignoring the glare the blonde shot him. “Is that Ricky? Don’t talk, just shut up and go to your computer,” he told the younger man, not noticing the frown that appeared on Aries’ face before it vanished.

 _“It’s Mickey, and why should I?”_ Mickey asked.

The Doctor grimaced slightly, not liking what he was going to say, “Mickey the Idiot, I might choke before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you,” he said before explaining to Mickey what he needed.

There was typing on the other end of the phone before Mickey spoke up, _“It says password.”_

“Say again,” the Doctor told him, not having caught the younger man’s words while he plugged the mobile into the conference phone speaker so the other’s could hear the conversation as well.

 _“It’s asking for a password,”_ Mickey told them.

“Buffalo. Two F's, one L,” the Doctor supplied easily, causing Aries to glance at him. She was rather surprised that _that_ was his password.

 _“So, what’s the website?”_ Jackie asked Mickey.

_“All the secret information known to mankind. See, they’ve known about aliens for years. They just kept us in the dark.”_

“Is that Mickey Smith?” Aries cut off whatever the Doctor was going to say as she stood up and moved over to the phone, leaning against the table. She already knew who Mickey was, however. She had pretty much helped Rita raise Mickey after his mother died. But after the incident a few years ago, she had dropped all contact with the young man and had been successful, if one did not count last year as anything, with staying away.

 _“Yeah, who’s asking?”_ Mickey questioned curiously, _“And it’s asking for the password again.”_

“Just repeat it every time,” Aries told him, gaining a curious look from the Doctor, “And my name is Aries Prince.”

There was a loud clatter on the other end of the line before being followed by a breathless Mickey. _“Sorry, but did you just say Aries Prince. As in UNIT-”_

“Mickey, I need you to focus and listen to what I’m about to tell you,” Aries cut in, glancing at Indra with a frown. It seemed as though she needed to check just what was on her UNIT profile. She didn’t notice the Doctor, Harriet and Rose share a confused glance, each one curious to know what Mickey had been about to say.

 _“Sorry, Ma'am,”_ Mickey quickly said. Unknown to the people in the Conference Room, he looked down to the silver band on his wrist and swallowed heavily before looking back at the computer. _There will be time for questions later,_ he thought before refocusing on what Aries needed him to do. _“What do you need me to do?”_ he questioned.

“Mickey, I need Mrs Tyler to gather as much vinegar as she can find. There is a high possibility that your call is being traced and you need to be prepared if the Slitheen returns,” Aries explained.

Without missing a beat or questioning the absurdity of the request, Mickey turned to Jackie. _“Jackie, I need you to get as much vinegar you can find,”_ he told the older woman.

 _“What for?”_ Jackie asked.

 _“Just do it,”_ Mickey snapped. There was the sound of the phone being handed back over to Mickey as Jackie walked towards the kitchen, muttering as she went.

Rose looked to Aries and scoffed, “What the hell is vinegar going to do? They’re eight feet tall. What are you going to do, get them to make a salad?”

Aries didn’t say anything for a moment as she stared at the phone, listening to Mickey as he continued typing on the computer. “The Slitheen are from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius. Their gas exchange smells of calcium decay, which would tell anyone who knew what they were talking about that their species is made up predominately of living calcium. When that is compromised by a compression field, acetic acid would,” her hands curled into fists as she closed her eyes, knowing what she was about to do was essentially murder, “When calcium comes into contact with vinegar, it dissolves. In effect, dowsing a Slitheen with enough vinegar would kill them.”

The Doctor glanced at Aries in concern before resting a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him. “It’s the right thing to do,” he murmured just loud enough for her to hear him, “If the Slitheen does attack, it’s self defence. If they didn’t, it would kill them.”

Aries looked back down to the table, a bitter thought crossing her mind. Every choice that she had to make, any serious decision she came across, it always seemed to come down to one life over another. Which life was more deserving. “The lesser of two evils,” she muttered, shaking her head.

Not saying anything, the Time Lord squeezed her shoulder gently, seeming to Aries that he had understood her words. Harriet and Indra shared a glance, though neither said anything about the exchange they had seen. They both appeared to realise that there was something between the Doctor and Aries, though Indra held a slightly better understanding as he knew Aries’, as well as the Doctor. He knew that both had made some series choices in the past and couldn’t even comprehend what if would feel like if he were in their shoes.

Rose, on the other hand was scowling, rather having enough of the red head. She was a Scientific Advisor, not some wannabe Doctor and it was infuriating Rose on how everyone was letting a woman that looked no older than herself to order them around. “How do you know it’ll work?” she asked Aries, causing the Doctor to turn to her with a frown. His expression only caused Rose to grow angry, however. “How does she know what they are? How does she know anything about them?” she asked, unable to believe that they were just following the red head’s orders without questioning her, “And why are you letting her order around my mother and Mickey? You’re the alien expert here, not her,” she jabbed her finger at Aries, and the Doctor frowned when he felt Aries stiffen under his hand, “She’s nothing but a Scientific Advisor!”

 _“Rose,”_ Mickey warned over the phone, having heard the entire exchange.

The blonde turned her glare to the phone, unbelieving that her boyfriend wasn’t even backing her up. “What?! You’re actually going to listen to her? You don’t even know her!” she exclaimed.

The Doctor let go of Aries’ shoulder and turned fully to his companion, moving instinctively in front of his Nesdra to block her from Rose’s view. “I may be an alien expert, Rose Tyler. But you seem to have forgotten that it was Aries who knew what we were up against. It was Aries who told _me_ what they were,” he said in a tone that sounded calm, but his eyes told another story, “It was also Aries who saved _your_ life from those aliens. She has done nothing but help us ever since we got here, whereas all you have done is disrespect and insult her. But I will not stand for it any longer.”

Rose took a step away from the Doctor, rather startled by his sudden anger. The memory of how he had let Cassandra die flashed across her mind and she was shocked to now see that anger aimed at her. She glanced at Indra and Harriet and found them frowning at her, so she looked back to the Time Lord, only to once again turn her gaze away at his expression.

“Big Ben,” Aries’ voice cut through the tension of the room moments later as her mind tried to divert her back to the problem at hand and figure out just what the Slitheen were doing. She also wanted to try and change the subject, feeling uncomfortable by the Doctor’s words and was thankfully successful as she continued, “Why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?”

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor closed his eyes as he let it out slowly, feeling his anger drain away as he turned away from his companion and back to Aries. He was rather confused by his Nesdra’s change in topic, and hadn’t missed that it wasn’t the first time for her to do so. But it was a very good question.

Harriet looked between the Doctor and Aries, settling on the former as she replied, “You said to gather the experts, to kill them.”

The Doctor couldn’t help but roll his eyes, feeling the rest of his anger leaving him at Harriet’s words. _Human’s,_ he thought, shaking his head. “That lot would’ve gathered for a weather balloon. You don’t need to crash land in the middle of London,” he told the MP.

Aries straightened, immediately gaining the attention of Indra and the Doctor as her face screwed up slightly in concentration. “The Slitheen have been hiding within the government, but now after who I guess was UNIT went looking into that small blip in radiation in the North Sea,” she continued, the crease in her eyebrows growing, “They placed the entire planet on Red Alert.”

“But why would they do that for?” Rose asked.

 _“Oh, listen to her,”_ Jackie's voice spoke through the phone as she took it back off Mickey, _“And I’ve got the vinegar, though I’m not sure as to why,”_ she added, having not heard the argument.

“At least I’m trying,” Rose stated, choosing to ignore the part about the vinegar. She still didn’t believe that it would do anything to a Slitheen, but she also didn’t want the Doctor to get angry at her again.

 _“Well, I’ve got a question, if you don’t mind,”_ Jackie said, _“Since that man walked into our lives, I’ve been attacked in the streets. I’ve had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth.”_

“I told you what happened,” Rose cut in.

 _“I’m talking to him,”_ Jackie replied, _“’Cos I’ve seen this life of yours, Doctor. And maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it’s clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?”_

The Doctor leant against the table, his hands placed on top of it as he stared at the phone.

Aries glanced at him before back to the phone, finding that she had to hold her tongue at what she wanted to say. If she were to be perfectly honest, Rose’s safety wouldn’t have been something she would have concerned herself with, having experienced first hand at just how the blonde didn’t care for not only her own safety, but that of the others around her. Sure, her intentions could be considered valid, but after having seen just how much destruction Rose had done in her selfishness, Aries had truly given up caring as to what happened to the blonde.

“I’m fine,” Rose said.

 _“Is she safe?”_ Jackie continued to ask, ignoring her daughter, _“Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?”_

The Doctor looked up from the table and towards Rose. He couldn’t promise her mother that she’d always be safe. He knew better than anyone how dangerous the universe was and what could happen with his companions who travelled with him. His gaze then flickered to his Nesdra, only to blink in surprise when he noticed that she was staring at the phone, her expression almost....uncaring?

 _“Well, what’s the answer?”_ Jackie asked, causing Aries’ eyes to flicker up to the Doctor, her expression turning unreadable. Though that only confused the Doctor further, unsure as to what she was thinking.

Mickey thankfully took the phone back off Jackie. _“We’re in,”_ he told them.

Snapping from his thoughts, the Doctor straightened and turned back to the phone. “Now then, on the left at the top, there’s a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that,” he told Mickey.

After a moment, there was a sound coming through the speaker of the phone and both the Doctor and Aries’ frowned as they listened to it.

_“What is it?” Mickey asked._

“The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it’s transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it’s say,” the Doctor said as he tried to listen to it.

 _“He’ll have to answer me one day,”_ Jackie huffed, annoyed that she hadn’t gotten an answer from the Doctor.

 _“Hush!”_ Mickey hissed.

“It’s some sort of message,” Aries muttered, her eyebrows knitting together as she glanced at the Doctor, “Maybe some kind of code?”

“Could be,” the Doctor agreed.

“What’s it say?” Rose asked.

“Don’t know. It’s on a loop, keeps repeating,” the Doctor explained.

There was the sound of the doorbell ringing through the phone.

“Hush!” the Time Lord snapped, annoyed by the interruption.

 _“That’s not me,”_ Mickey told him before speaking to Jackie, _“Go see who that is.”_

“Mickey, don’t open the door,” Aries cut in, “Take the vinegar and head to the kitchen. It’s three in the morning and there’s only one person I can think of who would be ringing a doorbell at this time.”

The Doctor glanced at Aries, hearing the change in her tone and noticed that she was staring intently at the phone, her head tilted slightly to the side as she continued to listen to what was happening on the other end of the line. He couldn’t help but stare, finding that up close, she looked quite beautiful when she concentrated.

 _“Jackie, we need to get to the kitchen,”_ Mickey ordered.

 _“The kitchen?”_ Jackie asked in confusion.

 _“Just move it,”_ Mickey said, sounding frustrated, _“And don’t drop the vinegar.”_

The group around the table listened on as Mickey and Jackie moved to the kitchen.

 _“Now what?”_ Mickey asked as there was the sound of a door breaking and Jackie screamed.

Aries winced slightly at the sudden sound before speaking, “As soon as it enters the kitchen, throw the vinegar at him.”

“What if it’s in its suit?” Rose asked in alarm, still unsure as to what vinegar would do to a Slitheen.

Aries lifted her head to look at Rose, startling the Doctor with the small, knowing smirk that appeared on her lips. “They’re a species that enjoy a hunt. I can tell you that they would prefer their natural state to pursue their prey,” she explained. Her smirk grew slightly, remembering how it felt to hunt in a form that wasn’t human. It was something that was totally unique, exhilarating, and freeing to experience. “Less restriction and more freedom to allow natural movements and instincts,” she continued before turning her gaze back onto the phone.

Before the Doctor could ask her how she knew that, there was the sound of the Slitheen entering the kitchen and Jackie screamed again, causing him to turn his attention back to what was happening.

 _“Hey, ugly!”_ Mickey shouted, _“Take this,”_ he said as he threw the vinegar over the Slitheen.

The group heard the sound of a large fart before the sound of an explosion, causing them all to let out a collective sigh of relief. The smirk on Aries face vanished as realisation as to what just happened hit her and she frowned. _The lesser of two evils,_ she repeated the words she had said earlier in her mind, collapsing into the chair behind her with a sigh and drew the Doctor’s attention back to her.

“Are you okay?” he asked her quietly.

Aries ran a hand through her hair as she glanced at the Doctor. “I will be,” she sighed, “It never....Do you think....” she trailed off with a frown, unable to say what she wanted to ask. How could she ask _him_ of all people if it ever got easier choosing one life over another? Knowing full well what he had done and lived through. Even now, after a hundred years and living through more wars than she had ever thought possible, Aries still found it difficult to know if she was doing the right thing. That her decisions today weren’t ruining tomorrow.

The Doctor offered her a small, understanding smile as if he knew what she was thinking. He couldn’t help but feel his hearts lighten at the knowledge that however much of a soldier Aries was at times, she still held onto that part that made her human. She still valued a life, no matter who’s it was and it was something that he rarely saw anymore.

“Hannibal,” Indra suddenly commented as if something suddenly occurred to him, earning looks of confusion from the others.

“Hannibal?” Rose questioned. It was an odd thing to say.

Aries raised an eyebrow at Indra, realising what the man was saying and he shrugged. “Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar,” she explained.

“Is that how you knew what to do?” Harriet asked her. She had been rather surprised by how much the red head actually knew.

Shaking her head, Aries straightened in her seat. “No,” she admitted, a small smile appearing on her face, “My father was a....Well, he was a Master when it came to chemistry and taught me everything he could,” she explained, not truly lying. Severus Snape _had_ been a Master of Potions, but she couldn’t really tell them that.

Her smile turned sad at the thought of her father and she looked away, her fingers unconsciously fiddling with the small crystal that lay around her neck. She had been surprised to have noticed the slight change in it over the year, having realised that it had gotten slightly bigger, about an inch in length, and more oval shaped. And a part of her wondered if there was a reason as to why, knowing that her father was fond of being cryptic and leaving things for her to figure out on her own. But anything she had tried to get the crystal to reveal just what it was had come up empty.

The Doctor watched her, noticing the necklace she was fiddling with and his expression fell when he realised the terminology that Aries had used when she spoke of her father. He noticed another chain around her neck, though what was on that necklace he couldn’t tell, seeing that it was hidden under her shirt.

“Was?” Rose blurted out, picking up on the word as well.

The Doctor shot Rose a glare when he noticed Aries flinch at the word.


	26. Blowing Up 10 Downing Street

“How did you know what they were?” the Doctor asked Aries quietly as he pulled up a chair beside the red head and sat down. He wanted to satisfy his curiosity, but also wanted to get her mind off whatever was bothering her after noticing that she had been staring at nothing while fiddling with her pendant.

His question did the trick as she dropped the small crystal and looked to the Doctor with a raised eyebrow. Her lip twitched upwards slightly, remembering conversation she had held with the Time Lord during the Blitz and couldn’t help but think that he was very upfront with his curiosity. Though there was something about the way he asked his questions that didn’t seem so intrusive. Something that gave her the reassurance that what ever she told him, he was someone she could trust. Why that was, however, Aries wasn’t certain and it honestly scared her. Ever since she had met the Doctor, there had always been a part of her that felt she could trust him and she was cautious as to why.

“I read about them,” she offered after a moment, turning her gaze to the others in the room, watching them as they made themselves comfortable while trying to work out what to do next.

The Doctor raised his own eyebrow at her vague reply, his curiosity perked at the knowledge that she had a book on alien lifeforms. “And where did you read this?” he questioned, drawing Aries attention back to him, “It’s the 21st century and humans know next to nothing on aliens.”

Aries managed a small smile as she replied, “Someone left me a small collection of books a while ago.”

Before the Time Lord could question her further, they were interrupted by Mickey and he couldn’t help but feel slighted once again at the chance to get to know more about his Nesdra.

 _“Listen to this,”_ the young man said before another voice came through the phone.

Aries stood up with a frown as she listened to ‘Joseph Green’, her eyes narrowing at the aliens words.

 _“Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads and they’ve found massive weapons of destruction capable of being deployed within forty-five seconds,”_ ‘Joseph’ said.

“What?” the Doctor exclaimed as he stood up as well.

_“Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction, unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg of the United Nations, pass an Emergency Resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival because from this moment on, it is my solemn duty to inform you that planet Earth is at war.”_

“He’s making it up. There’s no weapons up there, there’s no threat. He just invented it,” the Doctor said as he started to paced.

Aries watched him with furrowed brows, “It doesn’t make any sense,” she muttered.

“Do you think they’ll believe him?” Harriet questioned.

“They did last time,” Indra spoke up as he watched Aries as she continued to think.

“That’s why the Slitheen went for a spectacle. They wanted the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out,” the Doctor continued to pace before he stopped, realising that Aries was once again thinking. He wouldn’t admit it, but he found that he could watch her all day as she thought. The way her lips tugged downwards slightly, her eyebrows furrowed just a little and the way she seemed as thought she could read your very soul as she looked at you. There was just something about it and he couldn’t help but stare.

“They release the defence codes and the Slitheen go nuclear,” Aries muttered before her eyes widened and she rushed over to the conference phone, “Mickey, I need you to do something for me.”

The Doctor looked at Aries, rather unsure as to what she was doing.

 _“What do you need?”_ Mickey said after a moment.

“I need you to access the personnel files of all UNIT employees and anyone liaising with them,” she quickly explained.

“What do you need that for?” the Doctor asked rather confused as he stepped towards the table.

Aries turned her head to him as she explained, “We may not have any alien experts that can help us right now, but we do have someone who works for the Ministry of Defence.”

The Doctor’s eyes widened as he realised what she was getting at. “Commander Aspen,” he breathed as he quickly made his way to her side and looked to the phone. “Mickey, you need to locate a Ministry of Defence Commander by the name of Nick Aspen. He should be under as a liaison officer.”

 _“Okay, Commander Nick Aspen,”_ Mickey said as he typed away. There was a frustrated noise before Mickey spoke again, _“It’s asking for a another password. The buffalo one isn’t working and I’ve only got two more tries before it kicks me out,”_ he informed them.

“You wouldn’t happen to have another password up your sleeve, do you?” Aries asked the Doctor, rather hoping that he did. She had one of course, but it came with the possibility of compromising her identity. And she wasn’t to sure just how the Doctor would take the knowledge of who she was....more so since she still hadn’t been told how she held the title.

The Doctor shook his head, “No. I’ve only ever used that one.”

Aries frowned as she looked back to the phone. Her eyes flickered back and forth unconsciously as she shifted through everything she knew about UNIT and one Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, wondering what password the younger woman would have used. Cross-referencing every titbit of information that was both personal and significant to Kate, Aries blinked when something occurred to her. _Okay, UNIT really needs to move away from animal themed passwords,_ she thought when only one thing stood out in her mind.

“Try Greyhound,” she told Mickey.

There was some more typing on the other end before Mickey sighed. _“Incorrect,”_ he told them.

Frowning, although feeling slightly glad that not everyone used animals as a basis for their passwords, Aries raised her gaze and looked to Indra. She drew her bottom lip in between her teeth when the man inclined his head slightly before releasing it with a sigh.

“We only have one more chance,” the Doctor told her, noticing her shoulders droop slightly.

Aries glanced at him and nodded before looking back to the phone. “Canidae,” she told Mickey, “Spelt C, A, N, I, D, A, E.”

 _“You sure? Because this is our last chance,”_ Mickey asked, even though he had already put the password in.

“I’m certain, Mickey,” Aries said confidently, missing the Doctor’s eyes narrow slightly as he watched her.

 _“Here goes nothing,”_ the young man said before hitting the enter button. There was silence for a moment before he spoke again, his tone excited. _“We’re in,”_ he said as he started typing again.

“How did you know?” the Doctor asked Aries, rather surprised and curious that she had guessed the password correctly.

Aries frowned, not looking away from the phone. She didn’t know how to tell him without giving away more than what she was willing to in regards to who she was.

Indra cleared his throat, causing the pair to glance at him. “UNIT has coded a password that would give access to the system in the event of an emergency. To use it outside of its intended purpose holds an immediate resignation and possible jail time, depending on what one does after using it. The moment it is used, anyone with high enough clearance,” his gaze, which had been moving from the Doctor and Aries as he spoke, settled on Aries for a moment before flickering towards the Doctor, “Is notified and GPS co-ordinates are immediately sent out to alert them of the passwords use,” he explained, twisting lies with the truth.

Though Aries knew that the only thing that had been truthful out of everything Indra had said was that the password would grant the user access. _Which I’ll have to change as soon as possible,_ the red head thought, her gaze flickering to Rose and Harriet, _There’s no telling what someone might do with it._

 _“Found him,”_ Mickey stated, regaining everyone’s attention.

Turning back to the phone, Aries sighed in relief. “I need his contact number,” she told the young man, “Send it to Rose’s phone and I’ll call you back when I’m done,” she finished before hanging up, not giving him a chance to say anything.

“What are you doing?” Rose questioned the red head, confused as to what she was up to.

Aries glanced in her direction, her eyebrows pinching together slightly. She had thought that what she was doing had been quite clear, but she guessed not. “I’m trying to stop those aliens from getting their hands on nuclear weapons,” she explained.

“And how are you going to do that?” Harriet questioned this time, watching Aries closely as the red head looked back to the phone. She was actually quite surprised at how easily the young woman seemed to take control of the situation.

“The Slitheen run something along the lines of a family business,” Aries begun, her lip tugging downwards slightly at the corners, trying to work out just what they would have targeted Earth for, “And any family business needs customers. That signal they are transmitting from the North Sea could be an advert, but advertising what, I’m unsu....oh no,” she breathed as the pieces fell into place in her mind.

“What is it?” the Doctor asked her worriedly as her face paled.

Aries looked up to the Time Lord, grabbing Rose’s phone when it beeped and was already opening the message as she spoke. “What do most spaceships run on?” she asked him, hoping she was wrong.

The Doctor’s eyebrows creased before they flew upwards, his eyes widening. “They’re gonna destroy the Earth,” he breathed out, realising what Aries had.

“What?!” Rose exclaimed, looking between the pair.

“They’re gonna attack every country on Earth. The countries retaliate, fight back. World War Three. The whole planet gets nuked,” the Doctor quickly explained, his horror growing with every word, “Radioactive chunks of the Earth to be sold off as fuel.”

“Not if we can stop them,” Aries stated as she dialled the number Mickey had sent, turning away from the others when the call connected.

 _“Who’s this?”_ Commander Aspen's voice asked.

“Commander. This is Aries Prince, UNIT Scientific Division,” Aries replied quickly, “I don’t have much time and I need your help.”

 _“Aries?”_ Aspen’s voice breathed in relief, _“Alistair hasn’t been able to get a hold of you and he was worried that something had happened.”_

“Tell him that I’m fine,” she replied, “And that we’re still held up in Downing Street. I had to activate the Cabinet Room’s security measures which would explain why he couldn’t reach me. I’m currently using an unrestricted device and would explain more, but I need you to do something for me. It’s important.”

 _“What do you need, Aries?”_ Nick asked.

Aries frowned, glancing at the others in the room. “There is a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It would have only registered as an unknown radioactive blip in the system yesterday, but any investigation was diverted by the events earlier today. That ship is broadcasting a signal into outer space. I don’t know what it’s broadcasting, but it needs to be stopped,” she explained quickly, “I don’t care how you do it, just stop that signal. Blow the ship out of the water for all I care.”

There was silence on the other end of the line before there was the sound of pen scratching against paper could be heard, followed by Aspen’s voice. _“Got it. Anything else?”_ he asked.

Looking to the Doctor, Aries continued, “I guess that you both have watching the news?” she asked, receiving a hum in agreement from Aspen, “Then you should know that Joseph Green is dead. The man who made that statement is not the acting Prime Minister. He’s not even remotely human. And I know that it might be hard to believe but it is imperative that you stall the UN. They can not hand over those codes,” Aries’ eyes flickered between Harriet and the Doctor before she continued, wanting to gauge their reactions to what she was about to reveal next, “Show them my ABS if you need something to help stall them.”

 _“ABS?”_ Nick asked rather confused. Though he wasn’t the only one. The Doctor and Harriet were both confused by her words as well, while Rose was looking at her like she had grown another head. It was only Indra who didn’t react to her words, although he was looking rather tense.

“Atmospheric Breech Software,” she elaborated. “It is what alerted me to the spaceship earlier today the moment it passed through the Earths atmosphere before colliding into Big Ben. I didn’t get a chance to fully see everything it picked up, but it might be able to show you the origination and trajectory of the spaceship, as well as the possibility of anything else that is up there. There should be enough there to give them pause and stop them from just handing the codes over,” she finished.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow as Aries spoke, surprised and intrigued to know that she had created something that could tell her if anything entered the Earth’s atmosphere. It almost sounded like what the scanner in his ship had done earlier and he could see how she ended up working for UNIT as a Scientific Advisor. The way her mind worked and the knowledge she held was advanced for her age. His lips tugged downwards into a frown at that train of thought. _Maybe too advanced,_ he reflected, remembering what the Slitheen had stated to exactly what Aries was. It had, without saying it aloud, given him reason to believe that Aries wasn’t human....or not fully, at least. And that didn’t even include the energy she had produced after that.

 _“Okay. I’ll get on it right away,”_ Aspen said before adding, _“And Aries, be careful.”_

His words caused the red head to frown, unsure why the man sounded concerned before shrugging it off. “Thank you, Nick,” she said before hanging up.

“So?” the Time Lord spoke up, feeling uncomfortable with how she had used the Commander’s first name.

Aries turned to the four in front of her, “Commander Aspen is going to try and intercept and stop the signal coming from the North Sea. He is also going to try and stop the UN from handing over the release codes, though I am unsure how successful he will be with that. Stalling seems to be the only thing we can do at the moment until we can figure out another way to stop them.”

“How’d you get him to do that?” Rose asked with a frown. She was certain that Aries was only a scientist and she couldn’t understand how she got a Commander to listen to her.

“I asked him,” Aries said simply.

Rose scowled, “But he’s a Commander. How did you get him to listen to you? You’re just a scientist.”

It was Indra who answered her this time as he stepped forwards, drawing the blondes attention. “I would be careful with what you say, Miss Tyler. At this point in time, Miss Prince holds a position above you. And regardless of how she got the Commander to listen to her, I believe that you should be more grateful that she actually managed to do something.”

“But she’s just a scientist!” Rose exclaimed, not liking how everyone seemed to be on Aries side.

“And you are an uninvited guest,” Indra countered smoothly, “You had no clearance to enter this building,” he gaze flickered to the Doctor who was watching the interaction with a raised eyebrow, “Regardless of who you know. Miss Prince was requested to be here and given the current circumstances, she is currently just as much your superior as she is mine.”

Rose frowned, but decided to stay quiet, especially when she noticed that the Doctor didn’t back her up or defend her.

Aries moved back to the conference phone, raising an eyebrow at Indra when she caught his eye as she placed the mobile back into the speaker.

The man just shook his head, though the upwards quirk of his lips betrayed his amusement.

\----

A while later, Aries was leaning against the table facing the wall. She was lost in thought, her fingers drumming against the table unconsciously as she tried to figure out a way out of the situation she and the others were in. An idea had occurred to her earlier while she had been talking with the Commander, but there were too many risks to consider. Too many things that could go wrong.

Someone stepped up beside her, though Aries didn’t look at them as she continued to stare at the wall, having a fair idea who it was.

“Atmospheric Breech Software,” the Doctor glanced at Aries as he spoke, “Did you create it?”

“About three years ago,” she confirmed, though didn’t state that she had been working on the idea since the Blitz. “I doubt it will help hold off the UN’s decision indefinitely as it can’t show them what is out there as it isn’t actually linked up with any satellite imagery, but the technology involved in its creation should have their scientists scrambling about for a few hours.”

“How did you come up with the idea?” the Doctor asked, rather impressed.

“Not everyone is naive at the knowledge of what truly is out there,” she replied as she turned to look at him, her lip turning upwards at the corner, “Nor what is in this very room,” she added, causing the Doctor to grin. Aries sighed as she pushed herself away from the table and looked at the others in the room. “But not everyone is like you, Doctor. Our technology is advancing, but that only paints a target on our own backs. Even if some people don’t realise it.”

“You’re a loud species,” the Time Lord agreed as he eyed Aries. He was once again surprised at just how different she acted to others her age. Her maturity was beyond that of someone in their twenties and he was curious to know more about her.

“And they are silent,” Aries stated, her eyes narrowing slightly.

The Doctor was about to comment, but was interrupted when Rose’s phone started ringing through the speaker. He frowned when he noticed Aries already heading over to it and couldn’t help but sigh as he followed. He couldn’t help but feel his irritation grow as any chance he got to talk with Aries, to get to know his Nesdra better, they were always interrupted by someone.

 _“Aries?”_ Aspen’s voice came through the speaker after Aries answered the phone.

“Speaking, Commander,” Aries replied.

 _“It took a bit of thinking and collaborating, but we managed to scramble the signal coming from the North Sea using radio waves to disrupt it,”_ Aspen told her, getting straight to the point of why he was calling, _“Though we are uncertain as to how long that will be effective. We are still working on locating the ship, but have been unsuccessful at this time.”_

Aries frowned but nodded. It wasn’t the best news, but at least he had managed to buy them some time. “And the codes?” she questioned.

There was an exhale before Aspen spoke again. _“The UN hasn’t made any decisive decisions as of yet, but were very intrigued by your ABS software. And although I will admit that it is a rather impressive bit of software you’ve put together, there has been calls to ask how you managed to gain permission to allow the software to use not only the UK’s satellites, but a few other....questionable countries as well.”_

“Yes, and no one else is using satellites to spy on other nations,” Aries scoffed, earning a muffled snort from Indra and an amused look from the Doctor. Harriet looked rather taken aback by her words and Rose just rolled her eyes. “And unless someone is planning on using any form of weapons that pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and then return, the software should not be a problem. It is a warning system, not a weapon.”

 _“Oh, they know,”_ Aspen informed her and they could all hear the amusement in his voice, _“But as you said earlier,”_ he continued, bringing the conversation back to the problem at hand, _“It doesn’t have the capability to detect anything past the Earth’s atmosphere. Though the trajectory of the spaceship has them questioning its origin.”_

“So, we’re still waiting to hear their decision on whether they will hand the codes over or not,” Aries said, her eyebrows knitting together.

 _“That’s correct, Ma'am,”_ Aspen confirmed.

“Thank you, Commander,” Aries replied.

 _“I’ll try to keep you updated as best I can,”_ he said before hanging up.

Aries ran a hand through her hair as she sighed, moving back to her seat and slumping into it. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she muttered, “Dunderheads,” under her breath, wondering how a bunch of supposedly intelligent people that currently held the world’s fate in their hands could question a bit of software that was designed as a warning system.

“At least they managed to scramble the signal for the moment,” Indra spoke up, deciding to focus on the positives.

Aries glanced at him and nodded, her hand dropping to the table, “That’s true. It’s more than we could have hoped for and should keep whoever that signal was for from appearing anytime soon.”

“What do you mean?” Rose asked, looking between the two, “They still might hand the codes over to the aliens.”

“They might, yes,” Aries admitted, “But they haven’t yet.”

The Doctor poured some alcohol into a glass before walking over to Aries. “Here,” he said, holding the glass out to her. Although he didn’t drink, or he didn’t think he did, he could see that she was stressed and needed something. Under any other circumstance he wouldn’t have offered her any, but he figured one wouldn’t hurt.

Aries took the glass off him and offered him a small smile, “Thanks,” she murmured before taking a sip, grimacing at the burn as she swallowed.

Harriet, who had been watching the exchange, couldn’t help but frown at how stressed the red head seemed to be. For a Scientific Advisor, Aries seemed to hold a lot of weight on her shoulders. She glanced at Indra and noticed once again that he was watching Aries in concern. Her frown deepened slightly as she looked back to the red head, feeling as though she was missing something.

\----

A few hours later found the Doctor sitting a chair, watching Aries as she slept.

He had told her to get some rest not long after the phone call from Commander Aspen as he could see how stressed and tired she was over the entire situation they were in. She had refused at first, stating that she’d rather be awake in case Aspen called back with any more news, but had finally complied when he had promised to wake her the moment he heard anything new.

But as he watched her sleep, the Doctor couldn’t help but think over her position as a Scientific Advisor. He didn’t believe that was her actual rank, seeing how at ease she was with giving orders and how quick and sharp her mind was. And then there was the way that he had seen Indra always look at her for directions, as well as their small, silent communicative glances that told him more than anything that she wasn’t just a Scientific Advisor. But it made him curious as to exactly what position she held and why she wasn’t using it.

His attention was drawn away from Aries as Rose pulled her phone out of the speaker and begun to fiddle with it before placing it back. The Doctor let out a sigh when he heard her talking with her mother before shaking his head, ignoring the glances he was getting from Indra and Harriet. He hadn’t liked how Rose had continuously spoken to his Nesdra, finding her behaviour rather unbecoming, but wasn’t to sure how to approach his companion about her behaviour. He didn’t even know how to tell Aries about just who she was to him and that was something far more important.

The red head in question stirred, the sound of someone’s voice over the speaker drawing her back to the land of consciousness. She blinked a few times before standing up to stretch, trying to get the knots she was feeling to disappear. As much as she had done it in the past, Aries still found sleeping in a chair uncomfortable. Her eyebrows creased as she turned to the phone call between Rose and her mother, hearing Jackie on the other end.

 _“All right, Doctor. I’m not saying that I trust you, but there must be something you can do,”_ Jackie said, now addressing the Time Lord.

Aries frowned as she approached the group, pulling out a small bottle of water from somewhere in her coat while the other’s weren’t looking to help wash down the taste of alcohol she had drunk before she had slept. She couldn’t help but wonder what she had missed and glanced towards the Doctor, curious to know why he hadn’t woken her.

“If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid,” Harriet told them.

“We don’t have the time, nor the quantity,” Aries spoke up, causing the Doctor to look at her in surprise, having thought she was still asleep.

“Mickey, any luck?” Rose asked, ignoring Aries remark.

 _“There’s loads of emergency numbers. They’re all on voicemail,”_ Mickey informed them.

“What’s Mickey doing?” the red head asked the Doctor as she stepped up beside him.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, “Rose stated that Commander Aspen was taking to long to call back. And since she couldn’t find his number, she called Mickey to try and call anyone to tell them about the aliens,” he explained with a shrug.

“Yeah, that may have been my fault,” Aries admitted. “I deleted the Commander’s number off her phone. Doubt he’d want just anyone to have it,” she explained when the Doctor just raised an eyebrow. “But anyways, Rose does realise that they won’t believe a word she says when they mention that the current acting Prime Minister is an alien in disguise,” she stated, raising her own eyebrow.

The Doctor turned sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Oh, I know they won’t.”

Aries blinked at him, a little confused as her brain woke up before his words registered and she couldn’t help but snicker. “You tried, didn’t you?” she asked, an amused smile on her face.

His sheepish look vanished at the sight of her smile and he returned it easily. “Yeah, I did,” he admitted.

Aries shook her head before nodding in Rose’s direction. “Will you tell her that?” she questioned him.

Turning his head to his companion, the Doctor watched her for a moment before he grinned. “Nah,” he declined, once again causing Aries to snicker. He glanced at her, his grin growing at how relaxed she looked for the moment before she suddenly turned serious.

“We need to get out of here,” Aries admitted sombrely as she turned to watch the others, “It’s been quiet for too long and I don’t believe that the UN will hold off on their decision for much longer. There’s no telling what is going on outside this room.

The Doctor nodded, his smile disappearing as it turned into a frown. “I know,” he agreed quietly, already missing the smile that had been on her face.

Aries was about to say something else in regards to the idea she had thought about earlier, when Rose spoke up. “If we could just get out of here.”

“There is a way out,” the Time Lord stated as he glanced at Aries, only to blink at her expression. His frown deepened when he realised that she had come to the same conclusion that he had, though he couldn’t help but wonder how long she had been pondering the idea.

“What?” Rose gapped at him.

“There’s always been a way out,” Aries explained, turning away from the Doctor and looked at the others, “There had been the moment I closed those shutters.”

“Then why don’t we use it?” Rose questioned, rather unsure as to why neither had mentioned their idea earlier.

The Doctor looked at Aries for a moment longer, unsure what to think about her knowing for so long. But having seen just how she worked, he really couldn’t put it passed her to have already though of some kind of contingency plan just in case all other ideas failed. He moved over to the phone and rested his hands on the table. “Because I can’t guarantee your daughter will be safe,” he told Jackie.

 _“Don’t you dare. Whatever it is, don’t you dare,”_ Jackie told him, her voice growing hysterical.

It was Aries who spoke next, surprising the Doctor and causing him to look up at her. She wasn’t looking at him however, her gaze fixed solely on the phone. “That’s the thing, Mrs Tyler. If _we_ don’t dare,” she finally looked up and met the Doctor’s gaze, “Then everyone dies.”

“Aries?” the Time Lord questioned, startled by her words.

“I know what you’re thinking, Doctor. I’ve been thinking about it ever since telling Aspen to blow that bloody ship out of the water and if there is even a chance to stop those aliens, then do it,” the red head told him, her gaze unwavering in her resolve.

The Doctor glanced at the others around the room, Harriet and Indra nodding as soon as he laid eyes on them. When his gaze landed on Rose, however, he found her looking at Aries with a frown. “Rose,” he said, causing the blonde to look at him in surprise before she also nodded.

 _“Please, Doctor. Please. She’s my daughter. She’s just a kid,”_ Jackie pleaded, trying to get him to change his mind.

“Don’t you think I don’t know that?” the Doctor asked, “Because this is my life, Jackie.” His gaze found Aries’ again as he continued, “It’s not fun. It’s not smart. It’s just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will.”

Aries’ face softened at his words, seeing the man she had met over half a century ago. She had wondered what had happened to the Doctor when she had run into him last year, and although she understood what he had lived through, he was nothing like the Time Lord she had first met. But now, looking at him, she could see the man he would become. The man who would keep his promise to save her life and the lives of so many others.

Who stood in front of her in that moment was a Time Lord who had lived through war and lost everything, but still held onto something that she had trouble finding.

She took a step towards him. “Then what are you waiting for, Doctor?” she questioned quietly.

The Doctor’s expression turned conflicted as he tried to work out what to say. He was supposed to protect his Nesdra, to keep her safe. He had only just met her, but now he could lose her and she would never know who she was to him. Swallowing heavily, the Doctor took a step around the table and closer to Aries, his hearts constricting in his chest at the mere thought of losing her. “I could save the world but lose you,” he told her.

Aries’ eyes widened a fraction at his words. The feelings she had dismissed for so long flared to life at the intensity of his gaze. _He couldn’t....But that...._ She was unable to think straight, unable to believe what he was saying.

Neither noticed Rose glaring at Aries as her blood boiled at both the Doctor’s words, as well as the fact that he hadn’t even acknowledged her at all. She was supposed to be his companion. The one he had asked to travel with him, but the moment he had laid eyes on Aries, it felt like she didn’t even exist any more.

Indra was just watching the pair with a small smile before he shook his head. _Really should have taken the warning not to bet against that woman,_ he thought wryly, thinking of the young brunette he had spoken to yesterday after hearing that both Aries and the Doctor would be making an appearance for the conference. He had been warned against betting anything against her, but to think that she would have been right had him agreeing, wondering how two people who had never met could hold feelings for each other. It had been almost laughable, but seeing it now, he knew that he’d be paying up when he ran into her next.

It was Harriet who broke the silence that had fallen on the room. “Except it’s not your decision, Doctor. It’s mine,” she said as she stepped forwards, her gaze flickering between the Doctor and Aries.

 _“And who the hell are you?”_ Jackie demanded.

Harriet straightened, “Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it.”

The Doctor stared at Aries for a moment longer. She nodded to him slowly, still reeling by what he had said and he managed a small smile. He moved over to the red case that was still laying on the table where Harriet had left it the night before and started going through it.

“So how do we get out?” Rose asked, having know idea what he was planning, deciding to ignore what had just happened.

“We don’t,” the Doctor said as he pulled out some of the paperwork and begun instructing Mickey on what to do.

 _“What are you doing?”_ Jackie asked Mickey as he typed away on the computer.

 _“Hacking into the Royal Navy,”_ Mickey replied, rather surprised at what he was doing, _“We’re in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth.”_

“Right, we need to select a missile,” Aries said as she stepped up beside the Doctor. She glanced at the Time Lord, her eyebrows creasing slightly before focusing on what Mickey was doing as he spoke.

 _“We can’t go nuclear. We don’t have the defence codes,”_ Mickey exclaimed.

“We don’t need them,” Aries told him.

“All we need’s an ordinary missile,” the Doctor agreed, “What’s the first category?”

_“Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A.”_

“That’s the one. Select,” Aries said.

 _“I could stop you,”_ they heard Jackie say.

 _“Do it, then,”_ Mickey told her.

“You ready for this?” the Doctor asked the man, glancing at Aries as he did so.

_“Yeah.”_

“Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands,” the Doctor slipped his hand around Aries, feeling her hand tighten around his, “Fire.”

There was the sound of a key being pressed before Jackie spoke up, _“Oh, my god.”_

“How solid are these?” Harriet asked as she inspected the metal shutters.

“Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big,” Aries explained, not even glancing away from the phone.

“All right, now I’m making a decision,” Rose spoke up, feeling rather jealous at the sight of Aries hand in the Doctor's, “I’m not going to die. We’re going to ride this one out. It’s like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a door frame. Now, this cupboard,” she continued as she opened the door to the storage cupboard, “Is small so it’s strong. Come and help me. Come on,” she said as she started pulling stuff out.

Harriet and Indra move to help her empty the cupboard and Aries moved to help them, but was stopped when the Doctor didn’t let her hand go. She looked to him in confusion, though couldn’t deny how her heart had picked up the moment his hand had enclosed around hers.

“I need your help with this,” he said, barely glancing at her. He was lying through his teeth, but every part of him was screaming to keep her close. He had no idea how this would end and he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.

Aries raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that he was lying, but didn’t say anything as she moved back beside him.

 _“It’s on radar,”_ Mickey told them, _“Counter defence five-five-six.”_

“Stop them intercepting it,” Aries ordered as the other three continued to empty the cupboard.

 _“I’m doing it now,”_ Mickey told them.

“Good boy,” the Doctor said with a grin, feeling Aries hand tighten around his as they waited for Mickey to tell them that he had stopped them.

 _“Five-five-six neutralized,”_ Mickey finally said and Aries let out a breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding.

The Doctor pulled the phone out of the speaker and moved towards the cupboard when the others had managed to empty it. His hand was still holding Aries'. He stepped into the cupboard, finding it very cramped, but managed to get both himself and Aries inside, though the red head was half sitting on him. He wasn’t complaining, however.

“Here we go. Nice knowing you all,” Harriet said before shouting, “Hannibal!”

There was the sound of a large explosion and Aries felt the Doctor tighten his hold around her as the cupboard shook violently and rolled before coming to a stop. She managed to push the steel door off when she was certain that it was over and stepped out, quickly followed by the Doctor and the others.

“Made in Britain,” Harriet commented with a grin, glad to be alive.

An officer rushed up to them, rather surprised that anyone could have survived the attack, let alone five people. “Oh, my god. Are you all right?” he asked them.

“Harriet Jones. MP for Flydale North,” Harriet said, pulling out her ID cards and showing it to the officer, “I want you to contact the UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news.”

“Yes, ma'am,” the man said before rushing off to do just that.

“Someone’s got a hell of a job sorting this lot out,” Harriet commented before her eyes widened, “Oh, Lord. We haven’t even got a Prime Minister.”

The Doctor grinned at the brunette. “Maybe you should have a go,” he told her.

“Me?” Harriet looked to the Doctor in surprise, “Huh. I’m only a back-bencher.”

“I’d vote for you,” Rose piped up with a smile.

Neither of them noticed Aries frown when she noticed Indra standing off to the side as they made their way down the rubble. He was on the phone to someone and the moment he looked up and looked directly at her, Aries knew that her job wasn’t over. She glanced at the other’s and seeing that they were distracted, she slipped away.

“Now, don’t be silly,” Harriet continued, “Look, I’d better go and see if I can help. Hang on!” she started to make her way down the pile of rubble as she shouted, “We’re safe! The Earth is safe!”

“I thought I knew the name,” the Doctor commented with a smile, “Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain’s Golden Age.” He glanced beside him to Aries, only to find that she wasn’t there and started to look around, only to see Indra approaching him.

“I’m sorry, Doctor,” Indra said as he stopped in front of the Doctor. “Miss Prince has been called back to UNIT headquarters,” he informed the Time Lord before holding something out to him, “But she asked me to give you this.”

The Doctor frowned as he accepted the folded slip of paper from Indra. He had rather hoped that he could have asked Aries if she wanted to travel with him, but he could understand. After everything that had happened, there would be a lot of work that need to be done to put everything right.

As Indra walked away, the Doctor opened the note and quickly read what was written. He looked back in the direction Indra had gone as the officials tried to grant some sort of order amongst the chaos and couldn’t help the smile that made its way on his lips.

_Doctor._

_Meeting you was fantastic._

_Until next time, whenever that may be._

_Aries Prince._

“Until next time, Aries,” he murmured.

\----

A black sedan pulled up into Aries’ driveway and the red head stepped out of the vehicle after it came to a stop. It had been a few hours since she had disappeared from the remains of 10 Downing Street, knowing that even if the Slitheen had been stopped, her day hadn’t been over. She had debriefed with Alistair, telling him what had happened and had told him her views on what needed to be done to stop what had happened from occurring again.

She turned at thanked the driver before heading inside, wanting nothing but a warm shower and to sleep, feeling both drained mentally and physically. But as she unlocked the door and stepped inside, Aries frowned when she spotted a brown, A4 sized envelope sitting in the middle of the entrance. She stood there, staring at it for a moment, though she already knew that it didn’t hold anything dangerous as it managed to pass through her wards. But she was still surprised to see it and couldn’t help but notice that it was the second time in two days that she had received mail at home.

 _Speaking of mail,_ Aries thought as she knelt down an picked up the envelope and headed to her study, hoping that the results from the test the day before had appeared. As she entered the study, the red head noticed immediately that the results had been printed, having set up the computer at her lab to automatically send anything here, saving her time. She placed the envelope beside the printer and picked up the results, taking a breath before flipping it over to read.

Aries almost dropped the paperwork when she read the results.

_Sample Match – 48% POSITIVE_

The only thing that stopped her was just underneath the positive result, where the identity of the sample was shown. She frowned, her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed that the species her blood matched had come up as unknown and she grew confused. “Why would Alistair give me a sample of something that wasn’t in the system?” she muttered as she moved over to her desk, collecting the envelope along the way.

She sat down heavily, eyeing the results before her gaze landed on the letter that Alistair had sent with the sample the day before. _Maybe he sent the extra information already,_ she thought, looking back to the envelope she was still holding in her other hand.

Placing the results onto her desk, Aries opened the envelope and took out the papers inside. She frowned when instead of paperwork on what the sample was, they were photos. And as she flipped through them, finding them to be photo’s of various men that seemed to range in both age and whatever time period the photo’s were taken in.

“What does Alistair expect me to understand from these?” she murmured as she continued to look through the photos. But her hands froze and her eyes widened when she reached the last one. Her heart started to beat quickly in her chest as all thoughts left her mind as she stared at the image of the man she had just spent the last night trapped in Downing Street with.

“Impossible,” Aries breathed, inhaling shakily as she stared at the photo of the Ninth Doctor.


	27. Boom Town

** South Wales: September 12th, 2006 **

“Come on, Aunty. I’m sure it will be fine,” Mickey said for what felt like the hundredth time since getting on the train heading to where Rose had asked to meet up with him.

Aries didn’t say anything as she turned her gaze back out to the passing landscape as the train continued towards Cardiff, though Mickey noticed her fiddling with the sleeve of her coat.

He sighed as he looked away, knowing what was on Aries mind and no matter what he had told her, he knew that she was nervous about seeing the Doctor again. It was the same way she had been when he had found her again. _Well, kidnapped and dropped at her door was more like it,_ the young man thought as he remembered how he had ended up at Aries’ home, feeling his lip twitch upwards at the memory.

Though whoever the brunette man had been, Mickey couldn’t hold what he did against him as it brought his aunty back into his life. _Just wish he had warned me first,_ he grumbled mentally, remembering how sick he had felt when he had appeared at Aries’ home.

_Mickey had been sitting near where the TARDIS had been before it had left with his girlfriend and the Doctor, reading through that days newspaper. He couldn’t believe that the government had seem to have brushed everything under the rug about what had happened, calling the entire situation a hoax. But as he glanced to the disc the Time Lord had given him, something inside him was saying that it was for the best that no one knew what was out there._

_It was the same reason he had never mentioned to anyone about his aunty. The same reason he never told anyone about the bracelet that he still wore, or the fact he remembered how he had gotten it. He knew, though not as to why, that Aries had tried to remove the memories he had of her, but for whatever reason, he still held onto them. He just hoped that one day he would be told why._

_He let out a sigh as he folded the newspaper and started to head back to his flat, tucking the paper and the disc under his arm. The Doctor had asked him to use the virus on the disc to wipe any mention of the Time Lord from the internet, and he guessed he had better get to it._

_He had only made it a few steps when out of nowhere, a short-haired, brunette male that looked to be in his early thirties appeared in front of him in a flash of light. Mickey stopped dead in his tracks, almost dropping the paper and disc as he did so and his jaw dropped in shock and surprise. The man was wearing a aged black leather jacket, dark blue denim jeans and a pair of well-worn combat boots._

_The newcomer glanced around warily as he dropped his hands from in front of him, his sleeve covering whatever was strapped to his left wrist before Mickey could see what it was. As the man looked around, his eyes narrowed and Mickey didn’t miss how his right hand moved to grasp something at his side, concealed by his jacket. Though the moment the brunette’s gaze landed on the young man, something passed over his face. An expression that was too quick for Mickey to name, but the brunette visibly relaxed and his hand dropped from his jacket and to his side._

_“Wh-who are you?” Mickey stuttered, taking a step away from the man the same moment the brunette took a step towards him. He couldn’t help it. The man screamed dangerous and he knew that it hadn’t been a mobile that the man had been about to pull out from under his coat._

_The brunette paused, eyeing the young man before him as his lip curled upwards slightly. “Skiz elrilvec xiakar krourr imk wadaevnivitec,_ (You always were full of questions,) _” the man muttered. His voice was smooth but thick with an accent that Mickey didn’t recognise. In fact, it took the young man a moment to realise he had no idea what the brunette had just said before he was speaking again. “Lialni skaeky viec van?_ (What year is it?) _” he suddenly asked._

_“What?” Mickey questioned, having know idea what the man was saying. Though he couldn’t help but notice, odd accent and language aside, that there was something off about the man. It wasn’t that the brunette had just appeared out of nowhere, but more that the newcomer looked....obscure? Almost like something was missing or wasn’t right, though he couldn’t place what._

_The man scowled, seeming to realise something and he turned away and muttered, “Grulecnial niavapr fazecni grar gaymorta,_ (Blasted thing must be broken,) _” quickly under his breath as he fiddled with whatever was strapped to his wrist before giving up. He looked back to Mickey with narrowed eyes, his expression causing the younger man to swallow heavily as he realised that the brunette’s eyes were unnaturally black. “Year?!” he snapped in English, causing Mickey to jump._

_“Er, 2006,” the young man said quickly, unconsciously taking another step away from the man._

_The brunette’s eyebrows knitted together as he looked around again before his eyes fell onto the flats of Powell Estate. “2006,” he muttered as he stared at the building, his lip curling up in disgust. His eyes widened minutely as he asked, “Grakikar ink elkiark niar Vecuaniarrta?_ (Before or after the Slitheen?) _”_

_“Vecua...what?” Mickey questioned, not understanding what the man was talking about._

_The man frowned, looking to Mickey. “Niavec viec liask Va xiltnial niar nixim-xilk niketecreniky,_ (This is why I wanted the two-way translator,) _” he muttered angrily. His frown deepened as he concentrated, realising that it had been a while since he had to speak in such a primitive tongue without aid. “The, arky_ (er) _....” he made a motion with his hand as he tried to remember the words, “Big...ugly. Pryarrta_ (green) _....green. Really tall.”_

_“Slitheen?” Mickey supplied, looking at the man with a raised eyebrow. He couldn’t help but find it slightly amusing at seeing the man stumble over words, though he managed to keep the smile off his face. Something was telling him that the man wouldn’t take to kindly to that._

_“Skavec,_ (Yes,) _” the man agreed, “Slitheen. They, ozfa_ (um) _, already been?”_

 _Mickey nodded as he pulled the newspaper from under his arm and cautiously held it out to the man, making sure he didn’t reveal the disc that the Doctor had given him. The brunette’s eyes narrowed on the paper before quickly stepping forwards and taking it, his eyes sweeping over the front page. When he was done, he snorted, “Skiz alefetaec elkar gruatjo nim niar nikonia. Uraor gregskec vecizaguart vat niar jolkob._ (You humans are blind to the truth. Like babies stumbling in the dark.) _”_

_Mickey frowned at the mans tone. He didn’t have to understand what the brunette had said to feel as though he had just been insulted._

_The brunette shook his head, handing the paper back to Mickey. “You kemfar_ (come) _,” he told Mickey, reaching for the young man’s arm, but Mickey quickly moved out of his reach._

_“Oh, no. I’m not going anywhere. I don’t even know who you are,” Mickey exclaimed, taking a few steps away from the man. There was no way he was going anywhere with the brunette._

_“Skiz fazecni,_ (You must,) _” the man growled and Mickey was about to take another step away from him, though his eyes widened in alarm when he realised he couldn’t move. As the brunette approached him, Mickey couldn’t help but feel as though he was prey caught in the trap of a dangerous predator. He felt his heart pounding in his chest as the brunette reached out to grab his arm and something flashed across the man’s eyes._

 _“Alefetaec. Vecim kraekrour imk niar ozaobaixta,_ (Humans. So fearful of the unknown,) _” the man muttered as he grabbed Mickey’s arm, feeling the younger mans rapid heartbeat under his grip. “Almxi niakyarusk faikilur,_ (How terribly mortal,) _” was the last thing Mickey heard before he there was a tug in his stomach and he felt as though he was being squeezed through something he shouldn’t have been able to fit through._

_When Mickey finally found himself back on solid ground, he managed to open his eyes. Though the moment he did so, the world seemed to spin around him and he threw up, unable to hold it back. The brunette dropped his arm as if it burned and sneered at him in disgust before making the mess vanish. Mickey wiped his mouth, looking at the man with wide eyes before realising that the brunette’s attention was no longer on him, and his sneer had been replaced with a blank look, his posture rigid._

_He followed the man’s gaze, wondering what was wrong, only to blurt out, “This is Luka’s home,” the moment he realised where they were. The brunette glanced at him, the sneer returning to his lips as he shook his head. Mickey frowned, “But why did you bring me here?” he questioned, looking back to the brunette, “Luka hasn’t lived here for years.”_

_The man didn’t say anything, only raised his hands and revealed a device around his left wrist that looked to be some kind of high-tech watch to Mickey. He input something into the device, and before Mickey could question what it was, the man vanished. He stared at the spot the brunette had been before his gaze was drawn back to the house as the front door was opened to reveal a very surprised Aries._

_“Mo-Mickey?” the red head breathed, her eyes going wide at the sight of the young man._

Mickey couldn’t help but smile at the memory of her reaction. It had always been hard to surprise Aries and to have finally managed to do it was like a lifelong goal had been achieved. The amount of times he and Luka had tried to surprise her were probably in the thousands. Though Mickey’s smile quickly fell at the thought of Luka.

_Mickey and Aries now sat in the red head’s living room after a very awkward hello. It had been years since Mickey had been here, although the young man’s eyes hadn’t missed the boxes that were placed in the corner. It made him wonder if she was packing to leave and that thought brought him a feeling of dread, not wanting her to be out of his life. Not after just finding her again._

_Aries hadn’t said a word since she had welcomed him inside and he was mildly surprised that the wards around the property still welcomed him, feeling a slight but pleasant tingle pass through him the moment he had stepped through the front door. He looked at his aunty and noticed her stiff posture as she made tea without her magic and it caused his lips to tug downwards in a frown. It wasn’t like how he remembered her at all._

_“What can I help you with?” Aries finally asked, causing Mickey to startle. Her voice was tight and she watched him closely as she placed a cup of tea in front of him before moving back to the other lounge and picked up her own._

_Mickey’s frown deepened before he shook his head. “Actually, I’ve been looking for you,” he admitted, not missing the surprise that appeared on her face before it disappeared, her expression becoming guarded. He also didn’t miss that when she placed her cup down onto the table, Aries tugged at the sleeve of her coat, almost as if she was nervous before catching herself and relaxed into the chair, her hands resting on the armrests._

_“Why?”_

_It was a simple question, but Mickey knew that the answer wasn’t going to be. He took a sip from his tea before placing the cup down and frowned, trying to find the right words. “I....It’s just....” he let out a frustrated sound as he sank back into his own seat. “Why did you try and make me forget?” he asked, deciding to come out with a question that had been bugging him since he realised what she had tried to do. Her sharp intake of breath told Mickey that she hadn’t planned on him ever knowing and he felt his stomach drop._

_She suddenly stood up, but Mickey continued, not wanting her to do anything rash. “What happened with Luka? He never spoke to me about it, but I know that it was after Jamie’s de-”_

_“Mickey, don’t. I don’t want to talk about it. I did what I did to protect you,” Aries quickly cut him off, “How you still remember is beyond me, but you shouldn’t have. What I did,” she ran a hand through her hair as she begun to pace, though she didn’t look at him as she tried to continue, “Do you know what it is like to watch the people you care about....To be blamed for something you had no control....” She let out a frustrated huff as she stopped and finally met his gaze and he was surprised to see the tears in her eyes. He had never seen his aunty cry before. “Jamie died because I made the wrong choice, and I couldn’t do it again,” she managed to get out, a tear rolling down her cheek, “I couldn’t see anyone else die because of what I am, so I did the only thing I could think of.”_

_“You disappeared,” Mickey murmured, shocked by the amount of pain he could see in her eyes._

_Aries shook her head, “No. I made people forget me. Mary, Luka, everybody. No one knows I exist and it’s for the best.”_

_“For the best?!” Mickey exclaimed incredulously, “How could you think it was for the best?” he asked before his eyes widened as something dawned on him, “How could you do that to her? She died not knowing that she had a family. Only a grandson who is nothing but a failure and a son who had disappeared when life didn’t go his way!” He was on his feet now as he stared at Aries, his voice rising, “She died not remembering the woman who was more of a daughter to her than her own....more of a mother to me than anyone!”_

_“I did it to protect ME!” Aries shouted, her hands curling into fists._

_Mickey’s felt as though the wind had been knocked from him at her words and Aries paled as she realised what she had let slip passed her lips. “What do you mean, protect you?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Aries turned away, unwilling to answer him and Mickey slowly made his way towards her. “What did he do, aunty?”_

_When she still didn’t say anything, Mickey gentle rested his hands on her shoulders and slowly turned her to face him. “What did Luka do?” he questioned, feeling her shoulder’s shake under his hands and saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. It made his heart clench at the thought she had been dealing with this pain on her own for years and no one knew. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me,” he said, his voice and expression soft but determined._

Mickey’s hands curled into fists at the memory, unable to stop himself. Five years his aunty had kept it bottled up inside, only having told two other people, but when she finally told him, it was like the dam had burst and she couldn’t stop.

_“Luka had messaged me,” Aries finally begun almost an hour later, sitting on the lounge as she stared blankly ahead. Mickey was startled by her voice, but said nothing as he listened. “He had been hanging around with that group, trying to prove that he belonged.”_

_He grimaced here, remembering the group Luka had started to hang around. They had all tried to sway Luka away from them, but nothing seemed to work and slowly Mickey had drifted away from his once closest friend._

_“I hadn’t realised how bad they were until I went to see what trouble he had gotten into this time. But I knew something was wrong, so I made a few phone calls and let them know where I was going. Some of the group I knew to be dangerous, and although I have my abilities, I did not want to reveal them,” Aries stood up and moved to one of the boxes. Mickey watched her silently as she opened it and pulled out a wooden box about thirty centimetres in length and about twenty wide._

_Moving back to the lounge, Aries placed the box on the coffee table between them, but made no move to open it. Mickey glanced between the box and his aunty, noticing her tight expression. He slowly reached forwards, and seeing that she made no motion of protest, he opened the box, revealing something that made his breath hitch. Inside was two daggers and their sheaths, the likes Mickey had never seen before. The handles looked like molten lava, beautifully crafted to resemble a howling wolf’s head that was a mix of both blood red and pitch black. The blades were silver with what looked to be three ruins etched into each side of them. Each one was different, though he had no idea what they stood for._

_“They were a gift, I believe,” the red head continued, a frown forming on her face as her gaze finally lifted from the box, “Left for me a few decades back. I have never been one for weapons, but I knew that I couldn’t go empty handed that night. And I did not take anything else knowing that I had already had been informed that people were on their way to help.” She paused for a moment, her eyes closing, “But I didn’t know that Luka had also asked his father to come.”_

_Mickey looked up at that, hearing the waver in her voice. He wanted to ask what had happened, but held his tongue, knowing that if he did ask, Aries might stop._

_Taking a deep breath, Aries continued, “Dustin, the so called ‘leader’ of their little group was waiting with Luka. He had persuaded Luka to try and find someone to help his sister, although he didn’t have one. I don’t know if it was before or after Dustin had approached Luka when he had mentioned me, but I realised immediately that it was a setup. Someone knew who I was and figured how to use Luka to try and get to me. I know that Luka was only trying to do the right thing, but he broke the one rule I had asked of his family.”_

_“Not to reveal your magic to anyone,” Mickey muttered almost automatically and Aries nodded. It was the only rule he knew his aunty upheld._

_“If he had come to me and explained everything, I would have been happy to look into it and helped where I could, but he didn’t,” she sighed, “And when Dustin realised I did in fact have the abilities he had been looking for, he tried to use Luka as a way to persuade me to help him.”_

_”What did he want?” Mickey asked, his eyebrows furrowing._

_Aries shook her head, “I never found out. By the time he had placed his switchblade against Luka’s cheek, I reacted without thinking. But in the events that happened next, Jamie had turned up, hoping to help his son with whatever lies Dustin had told Luka to make. And upon seeing Jamie, I did not notice until it was too late that Dustin had one of his ‘friends’ waiting for him to show up, to use him as leverage if Luka wasn’t enough.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, “All I remember seeing is the man appearing from the shadows of the shop as I disarmed Dustin. The flash of something metal being pulled from his jacket and without knowing how or why, I realised that they intended to kill Jamie to get what they wanted.”_

_“Wh-what happened?” Mickey asked, although he felt as though he already knew._

_Her expression was grim as she nodded to the blades, “I may not be one for weapons, but I was well versed in handling them and know how to use them. One of them ended up lodged in the man’s neck, but I wasn’t quick enough to stop him and Jamie paid the price. By the time I reached him, he had lost too much blood, the bullet having nicked his aorta. I couldn’t do anything to save him, no matter how much I tried.”_

Mickey had been shocked by how dull and emotionless her voice had been as she explained what had happened, but understood. It was her way of dealing with it and speaking aloud about what had happened couldn’t have been easy for her. He glanced towards Aries, rather glad she had told him. Though a part of him wanted to go out and find Dustin after the man had managed to slip away when UNIT had shown up. He knew that Aries had searched for the man, but it was as if he had disappeared off the face of the planet. And if she couldn’t find him, then it was unlikely that anyone could.

By the time the train had arrived at Cardiff Central station, Mickey had noticed that Aries had grown even more anxious as they left the train. She was still fiddling with the sleeve of her coat as they headed towards the redeveloped Oval Basin and occasionally drawing her bottom lip between her teeth. He wanted to say something to help her relax, but didn’t know what, so he kept his silence.

Aries knew Mickey was concerned, but she didn’t mind. It was still strange for her, having him back in her life. He, just like Sarah and Alistair, caused her to feel as though she didn’t need to be on her guard around him and actually found herself relaxing more and enjoying the time she spent with him. They had even gone and seen a movie together a few weeks back, which was something she hadn’t done with Mickey since he had just reached his double digits.

And surprisingly enough, neither found it odd that she still considered Mickey her somewhat nephew and he considered her his aunty. Though the protectiveness she felt over Mickey had brought up a few arguments between the pair, especially when they revolved around a certain blonde. She had never told him about the times she had run into the Doctor and Rose, nor how his girlfriend had flirted with two men. One while she had been in the same room. She hadn’t told him, knowing that it would have only hurt him and felt as though the relationship she had with the young man she considered her nephew would become strained because of it. Let alone that Mickey, being at the age of becoming a man, had also asked her how she would know if Rose was good enough for him when she had shown no interest in the opposite sex.

But Mickey didn’t know that she had never thought about being in a relationship with anyone for the simple fact that she had her eyes on someone. But she wasn’t sure what her feelings were in regards to that person. It had gotten to the point where Mickey had stopped his teasing over the lack of her love life after the last time he had ‘tried’ to bring up the topic about if she had her eye on anyone, all the while pointing at guys that passed them by.

Aries had snapped at him, though inside she was filled with an uncomfortable feeling in her gut, unable to stop herself remembering how the Doctor’s hand had felt in hers. Or the fact that he smelt scarily similar to her amortentia. But it was the look in his eyes and the words that he had said during the incident at Downing Street that she couldn’t get out of her head. She was confused and worried that she was reading too much into his expressions, hoping for something that wasn’t there.

Suddenly her nerves became to much and Aries stopped walking. “Mickey,” she called, causing the young man to stop and look back to her in concern. “I....I don’t think this is a good idea,” she told him, trying to keep her voice from wavering.

Mickey’s eyebrows creased, a little confused as to why Aries was so nervous about seeing the Doctor and Rose again. He knew that she had left right after the incident back in March, but he didn’t know why it was bringing out a side of her that he hadn’t seen since she had told him what had happened to Jamie. She almost seemed scared. “It’ll be fine,” he tried to reassure her with a small smile, “And I’m certain that the Doctor would be glad to see you again,” he added.

While he may not know of Aries’ interest in the Doctor, the young man held a sneaking suspicion that, from what he had heard during the events that had unfolded with the Slitheen, the Time Lord may actually hold some feelings in regards to his aunty, even if he felt she was rather oblivious to that fact. He had heard the Doctor when he had stuck up for her against Rose, which had initially surprised him. But as he continued to listen, he had gotten the feeling that there was something more behind the Doctor’s words. More so when he had heard what the Doctor’s had said before he had sent the missile that had blown up 10 Downing Street.

Aries looked at Mickey, her expression dubious. How could he think that the Doctor would be happy to see her? She had just vanished on him and Rose without a word, only leaving a note with Indra to give to the Doctor. And although she didn’t really care for the blonde, she couldn’t help but feel nervous as to how the Doctor would react seeing her again. “Mickey, I really don-”

“You worry to much, aunty,” Mickey cut her off gently, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Just believe me, okay. It’ll be fine.”

Looking at him, seeing that he truly wasn’t worried, Aries slowly nodded. Mickey grinned and she sighed as he started walking again before something else caused her to freeze. “Mickey,” she called, causing the man to shake his head before glancing back at her, “You can’t tell them who I am. None of it,” she said.

Mickey raised an eyebrow before his grin returned and he spun on his heel to face her. “Sir, yes sir,” he said with a mock salute.

“Mickey,” Aries groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Please. I’m serious.”

He dropped his hand, though his grin remained. “Don’t worry, aunty. My lips are sealed. To them, you are my friend, not some super high up Commander who could lock me up and throw away the key. Nor are you my magical aunty that can turn into a bird and fly away into the night.”

“You’re not helping your case, Mickey Smith,” Aries told him firmly, though the small upwards turn of her lips gave away her amusement.

The young man laughed as he linked his arm through hers, ignoring the feel of her stiffening slightly at the unexpected contact before relaxing. “Come on, Aries. Better get to Rose before she sends a search party,” he exclaimed, his words causing Aries to roll her eyes. Mickey had caught on quite quickly that her reaction to stiffen when touched was almost instinctive, but found that she would relax immediately afterwards. He wondered what had brought it on, having never noticed her reaction in all the years he had known her, but had thought it had something to do with how long she had spent alone. He never brought it up, however, as it was almost as if she didn’t realise she was doing it.

Aries allowed herself to be led as she shook her head. She really did hope Mickey wouldn’t get his heart broken because of the blonde, but she wasn’t holding her breath.

\----

The moment Aries laid her eyes on the TARDIS, she stopped walking as she felt a warmth brush against her mind. It was as if the ship was saying hello and she couldn’t help but smile, even though her heart was beating faster in her chest.

Mickey frowned, glancing at her and seeing her smile fall, he sighed. “It’ll be fine,” he told her once again, “And I’m sure he will understand why you had to leave. So much had happened that day and you had work to do.”

Looking at Mickey, Aries nodded. “I know,” she told him as she turned her head back to the ship, “But I can’t help but worry.” And it wasn’t only just the fact that she was worried about how the Doctor would react to seeing her again, but also how she was supposed to tell him who and _what_ she was. The red head didn’t even know if it was common for there to be a half human, half Time Lord. Let alone a Time Lord who was also part witch that wasn’t even from this universe. So many possibilities ran through her mind of how easy this could all go wrong and she didn’t realise she was picking at the sleeve of her coat again, her bottom lip being drawn between her teeth as she chewed on it.

“Why don’t you wait here?” Mickey offered as he removed his arm from hers and breaking her from her thoughts.

His question caused Aries to frown, however. Yes, she may be worried, but she wouldn’t have come all this way if she didn’t intend to see the Doctor again. There was always something about the Time Lord that had drawn her to him, and when she had heard that Mickey was going to see Rose, she knew she was coming. But standing here now....

Aries pushed her concerns behind her occlumency walls and straightened, feeling like a weight had been taken off her shoulders at the actions. Letting out a breath, she glanced at Mickey. “I’ll be fine, Mouse,” she told him.

The young man just shook his head at the way her troubled expression vanished like it had never been there and was replaced with a more calm and neutral expression. “You really are going to have to teach me how to do that one day, you know,” he remarked as they started walking towards the ship.

“I dunno, Mouse. It took me year of practice to learn,” Aries said, an eyebrow raising as he knocked on the TARDIS door. She stepped towards the box and rested a hand against the panelling, feeling it warm under her touch and couldn’t stop her lip curling upwards into a small smile.

She closed her eyes at the feeling, only to snap them back open in surprise when the TARDIS door opened and a familiar voice asked, “Who the hell are you?”

“Jack?” she questioned, causing both men to look to her in surprise.

“Red?” Jack replied, his eyes taking her in and grinned when she scowled at the nickname.

“You two know each other?” Mickey asked, looking between the pair.

Aries’ eyes narrowed on the American. “It’s rather complicated,” she said, glancing at Mickey.

“Oh, I believe it’s more than that,” Jack stated, looking at the red head intently, “Isn’t that right, Aries?”

 _“Jack, what’s the hold up?”_ the Doctor’s voice cut in and Aries swallowed when she heard it.

“Oh, I’m gonna love this,” Jack said with a grin as he disappeared back inside the ship.

The red head frowned at the man’s words as Mickey followed him inside the TARDIS. She hadn’t liked the knowing look that had been in the American’s eyes and wondered what he knew. Her stomach flipped as she stepped inside after them and was greeted with a rush of warm air and a happy hum resonated through the room, causing the others to look in her direction.

“Aries,” the Doctor breathed, quickly climbing down the ladder that he had been using to help him mend something that probably didn’t need mending.

“Doctor,” she greeted with a small smile, even though she felt nervous, “I’m sorry about having vanished on you like that, but after what had happened, there was quite a lot of things I needed to do.”

Jack raised a surprised eyebrow at the red head. _So, the Doc doesn’t know who she is,_ he thought. He hadn’t placed her at the time, but having learnt her last name after Rose had accidently mentioned it during one of her grumbles about the red head after the Doctor had saved him, the American had realised just who Aries Prince was. Her reign as Royal Commander was one of the longest in Earth’s history, and although there wasn’t much on her, he had learnt about her during his time as a Time Agent.

Her high energy reading were something that had stumped him, however, even though there was something very familiar about them. He had searched through the library on the ship and had been surprised by what he had found. He had stumbled across an old, handwritten, leather-bound journal on a dusty shelf and when he had carefully flipped through it, he had almost been angry by the fact he couldn’t read it. But it was the hand-drawn sketches and diagrams that had caught his attention. Most were of different planets, aliens and plants that hadn’t been seen in centuries, but there was one that had had his heart stopping with fear.

It was a detailed sketch of a family crest. Something someone must have spent ages drawing, and one he had been told to avoid if he ever saw it. Five oddly-shaped circles were placed evenly around the outside of a shield, each one looking as though they seared the page, flames erupting around them. At the centre of the shield was a larger odd-shaped, almost stone-looking circle, a circular pattern was drawn inside the circle, one that Jack felt was similar to what he had seen inside the console room of the Doctor's ship. Six runes surrounded the centre circle, each one slightly different but almost felt as though they were alive with power.

It was the crest of Alchemist.

The moment he had seen it, he had searched for the Doctor to show him, but had made the mistake of leaving the book where it was. By the time he had managed to drag the Time Lord to the library, the book had vanished. He had tried to tell the Doctor, even to the point of trying to draw the crest he had seen, but it was as if he wasn’t able to. Like something was stopping him. The Doctor had just rolled his eyes and snapped at him for wasting his time before leaving, and the moment he had disappeared down the corridor, Jack had been surprised to find that he could draw the image and even speak about it. But any time he tried to show them to the Doctor, all the Time Lord said he saw was a blank piece of paper.

After a while he had just given up trying, though knew that the Doctor needed to know not only who Aries was, but the possibility of who she was associated with. If Aries truly held ties with the Alchemist, he knew that the Doctor needed to know.

The renegade Time Lady had been nothing but a whispered word in the wind. Almost like the bogeyman of time and space, and anyone who heard the name both respected and feared it. And if what Jack had found was the truth, and Aries _was_ the possible daughter of the Alchemist, there was no telling what the red head could do.

Jack was pulled from his thoughts when he noticed the grin that was on the Doctor’s face at the sight of Aries and he raised an eyebrow. _Curious,_ he thought, not having seen the Time Lord grin like that for months. _In fact, it was the last time we saw Aries that he had._

The Time Lord was ecstatic to realise that this was _his_ Aries and couldn’t help but pull her into a hug when he reached her. He felt her stiffen in surprise before she relaxed, returning the hug. “I’m just so glad to see you again,” he murmured as he slowly pulled away, unable to keep the grin of his face as he took her in. She didn’t look that different than what he remembered when he had first met her, thought she looked more relaxed and it warmed his hearts seeing her no longer so stressed.

“It’s good to see you as well,” Aries replied, fighting the urge to pull him back into a hug and feel his arms around her again. It was an odd sensation, though hadn’t been the first time she had experienced it.

Rose frowned at their interaction and turned to Mickey. “Did you manage to find it?” she asked, trying her best to ignore the fact that the red head had appeared with _her_ boyfriend _and_ had managed to garner the Doctor’s attention the moment he had seen her.

Mickey pulled out her passport with a grin and handed it to her. “There you go,” he said.

Rose smirked as she accepted it before turning to the Time Lord. “I can go anywhere now,” she told him, waving her passport in the air, missing her boyfriends face fall at her declaration.

“I told you, you don’t need a passport,” the Doctor stated, rolling his eyes as he glanced at his companion.

Frowning, Rose blinked at the Doctor’s words before her eyes slid to Aries and her smirk returned. “It’s all very well going to Platform One,” she said, looking back to the Doctor when she noticed the red head’s eyebrows crease, “And Justicia, and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon, but what if _we_ end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I’m prepared for anything.”

Aries pursed her lips as Rose spoke. A small, though somewhat familiar feeling settled in her gut and it caused her eyebrows to crease in confusion. Before she could figure out what it was, Mickey spoke up and she looked to the man, only for her eyebrows to crease closer at his expression.

“Sounds like you’re staying, then,” the young man remarked, his gaze moving to Aries before looking back to Rose, trying to ignore the feeling that his aunty could be right. That Rose wasn’t the one for him. “So, what are you doing in Cardiff?” he asked, changing the subject, “And who the hell’s Jumping Jack Flash? I mean, I don’t mind you hanging out with big-ears here,” he jutted his chin out in the direction of the Doctor, knowing his words were the truth. From what he had heard all those months ago, and seeing the man’s reaction to seeing Aries again, he knew that he had been correct about the possibility of the Time Lord harbouring feelings for his aunt.

“Oi!” the Doctor protested, glaring at Mickey.

“Look in a mirror,” Mickey retorted before looking to Jack, “But this guy, I don’t know. He’s kind of....” he trailed off, trying to find the right word.

“Handsome?” Jack supplied with a grin, cocking an eyebrow.

“More like cheesy,” Aries muttered with a snort as she shook her head.

Her words had the Doctor grinning, rather glad that his Nesdra still held no interest in Jack. It fell slightly as his eyes went to Mickey, however. It hadn’t passed his notice that Aries had arrived with the young man, and although he knew that the pair held some kind of past history, he couldn’t help but feel almost threatened and jealous by the younger man’s presence. He knew that even though he and Aries only had a fledgling bond after the initial touch of hands before the incident at Downing Street, it had been far longer for him and the separation from his Nesdra had him feeling very protective over Aries and didn’t like the idea of her hanging out with another man.

“Early 21st century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?” Jack asked as he raised an eyebrow at Aries and the Doctor, noticing the Time Lord shift slightly closer to the red head when his gaze had turned to Mickey. He silently questioned if there was anything going on between the pair, and it made him somewhat uneasy. Being who he was, Jack knew a jealous look when he saw one, and the expression on the Doctor’s face as he stared at Mickey was ticking every box.

“It’s bad,” Mickey told the American with a smug smirk.

“But bad means good, isn’t that right?” Jack asked, though he was no longer paying any real attention to the conversation. His eyes were on Aries, trying to figure out her intentions.

“We just stopped off,” Rose cut in before anyone could respond. “We need to refuel. Thing is, Cardiff’s got this rift running through the middle of the city. It’s invisible, but it’s like an earthquake fault between different dimensions.”

“I thought you said it wasn’t a fault between different dimensions,” Mickey spoke up, looking at his aunty in confusion.

“It’s not,” the red head shook her head, “It’s a weak point in time and space. Like a tear between one point in the universe and here, able to transport things or beings between two points.”

“How do you know that?” Rose asked as she frowned at her boyfriend, wondering how he knew what she was talking about. It brought her thoughts back to the knowledge that Aries had known Mickey, although the blonde didn’t know how. She was getting annoyed with how the red head seemed to be popping up everywhere in her life, including her travels with the Doctor.

Mickey couldn’t help but grin as he replied, “Aries has been studying it.”

“And from what I found while studying it,” Aries continued when she noticed Rose’s scowl, “The rift doesn’t appear to be active, although sometimes something slips through. There are people who keep the general public from knowing about such incidents, however. And I have also found that the,” she tilted her head to the side, “Scar releases an extremely high level of radiation, although it has not shown to have any adverse effects on humans. In fact, I have found it to be harmless.” She glanced at the Doctor for confirmation as she continued, “But if I understood Rose correctly, the TARDIS is able to absorb that radiation and convert it into some form of fuel?”

The Time Lord nodded, confirming her thoughts as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, noticing that although she stiffened at the contact, she was quick to relax. He looked at Mickey and the others, ignoring Rose’s expression as he spoke, “The rift was healed back in 1869 by a young woman named Gwyneth. She was able to close the rift, along with stopping an invading species known as the Gelth who were trying to overtake the human race.”

Jack once again raised an eyebrow at the Doctor and Aries, not having missed how the red head had stiffened. He was rather surprised by the way that Aries allowed the Doctor to be so close to her and it made him question just what had happened to the red head. If she truly was the Alchemist’s daughter, he was rather confused as to how she had befriended a Time Lord. But what surprised him the most was the closeness between the pair and silently mused if there was anything going on between them. He had been intrigued by how disinterested the Time Lord had been with Rose’s advances, but now he was beginning to see what could have caused that disinterest.

“So, you’re using the radiation that the rift is releasing to refill the TARDIS?” Mickey asked, always eager to learn, “Like how you’d refill a petrol tank?”

“Yep,” the Doctor replied, popping the ‘p’.

“Wicked,” the young man said with a grin.


	28. A Very Slitheen Mayor

It wasn’t that much later when the TARDIS door opened and the small group stepped out and onto Roald Dahl Plass.

“Should take another twenty-four hours, which means we’ve got time to kill,” the Doctor stated as he grabbed Aries’ hand. He noticed that the moment he did so, Aries went to pull away until she noticed that it was his hand and stopped and it caused him to frown internally. He had noticed it a few times in the past that she would startle at touch and it made him worry as to why she did, unable to stop the unsettled feeling from forming in his gut that something had happened since having seen her during the Blitz and now.

In his pondering, he didn’t notice his companion’s eyes narrow at his action before she looked away, a frown forming on her face. _Every time she’s here, he only has eyes for her,_ Rose thought bitterly, annoyed that for whatever reason, any attempt she had put towards the Time Lord to garner his attention since seeing Aries again during the Blitz had resulted in the Doctor not only ignoring her, but also warning her about doing or saying anything negative towards the red head. And Rose still hadn’t worked out how Aries had managed to appear in a few of their adventures.

Mickey raised an eyebrow at the Doctor before looking around, only to pause when something caught his eye. “That old lady’s staring,” he blurted out, causing the other’s to follow his gaze and noticed that he wasn’t wrong. There _was_ an old lady staring.

“Probably wondering what five people could do inside a small wooden box,” Jack commented slyly with a grin.

“What are you captain of, the Innuendo Squad?” Mickey asked, looking at the American incredulously.

Jack’s grin only grew as he made a W with his hands at the young man before turning and walking away. The others begun to follow, but Mickey’s voice stopped them.

“Wait, the TARDIS. We can’t just leave it. Doesn’t it get noticed?” he asked the Doctor.

Jack frowned as he turned back and looked at the ship. “Yeah, what’s with the police box?” he questioned, surprised that he hadn’t thought to ask before, “Why does it look like that?”

“It’s called a chameleon circuit,” Aries spoke up, earning a glare from Rose as the blonde’s mouth closed, having been about to say something. The Doctor looked at her in surprise while Mickey was interested, always willing to learn something new from his aunty. Jack, however, was not that surprised by her words and tilted his head slightly to the side as she continued. “From what I recall, the TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands. Like if this was Ancient Rome, it would become a statue on a plinth or something. If I remember correctly, the Doctor landed her in the 1960’s and she disguised herself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck.”

“How do you know that?” Rose asked angrily, her eyes flickered to the Doctor, wondering if he had told her before looking back to the red head.

Aries frowned, once again unsure about the blondes hostility towards her. “A friend told me,” she said, glancing at the Doctor when she felt him squeeze her hand gently.

“Who?” he asked curiously. Not many people knew that the circuit was broken, let alone knowing when it had happened.

“Oh, um,” Aries rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand, “Actually, it was one of your old companions. Sarah Jane,” she admitted with a small smile, “She’s a close friend of mine.”

The Doctor’s expression seemed conflicted for the moment before he returned her smile with one of his own. “Sarah Jane Smith. How is she doing these days?” he asked.

Rose, Mickey and Jack watched the pair with varying expressions, although only the blonde was frowning, unsure how to feel about learning that the Doctor had travelled with people before her.

Aries’ smile grew. “Sarah’s doing great. And she’s still investigating as well, though she’s a bit more wary about sneaking onto unknown spaceships,” she told him, and the Time Lord couldn’t help but snort at the memory of how Sarah had started travelling with him. The red head raised an eyebrow as she continued, her smile turning into an amused smirk, “Though she wasn’t very happy with where you dropped her off.”

The Time Lord’s smile disappeared at her words, still guilty about having left Sarah behind and never returning, but it didn’t last long when he realised what his Nesdra had just said. “Where was it?” he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“Aberdeen,” Aries deadpanned.

“Oh,” he muttered with a wince, though Aries chuckled as she shook her head, bring back his own smile at the sound.

There moment was ruined when Rose’s jealous voice cut in. “Who’s Sarah?” she asked angrily, her eyes narrowed on the pair.

The Doctor turned to look at Rose, his smile falling away and a frown replacing it as he stepped in front of his Nesdra at the blondes tone. It was a move that didn’t go unnoticed by Jack or Mickey, both raising an eyebrow in surprise. Though Jack was also curious, trying to figure out what, exactly, was going on between the pair. For all he had known about the Alchemist, the last person that should have found any comfort or support from a Time Lord would have been her daughter.

“So, the TARDIS copied the real thing?” Mickey cut in, hoping to break the tension that Rose’s words had created, “There actually were police boxes?”

The Doctor continued to frown at Rose, though his gaze shifted to Aries when he felt her place a hand on his arm. “Yeah, on street corners,” the red head nodded, giving Mickey a small smile in thanks. She didn’t see the Time Lord’s eyes narrow on the young man, but Jack did and his curiosity only grew. “Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested someone, they’d shove them inside until help came. Almost like a small prison cell.”

“Why don’t you just fix the circuit?” Jack questioned as he continued to watch the Doctor and Aries. The Time Lord still hadn’t moved from blocking the red head from Rose’s view, and he was keen to know why. Aries was someone he was afraid of, though he felt he had a good reason to be, even if he did like the red head. But he couldn’t help but wonder if the Doctor even knew who was standing behind him, and if he did, why he was....protecting her?

“I like it, don’t you?” the Time Lord replied.

“I love it,” Rose added as she patted the side of the ship, only to jerk her hand away from it when it shocked her. The Doctor noticed, but didn’t say anything.

“But that’s what I meant,” Mickey stated in confusion, “There’s no police boxes anymore, so doesn’t it get noticed?”

“Ricky, let me tell you something about the human race,” the Doctor said as he stepped away from Aries and towards the young man. The red head raised an eyebrow at the name he had called Mickey, but didn’t say anything as she watched them. “You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town, what do they do?” the Doctor asked, but before Mickey could say anything, he continued as he rested his hands on the younger mans shoulders, “Walk past it. Now stop you nagging. Let’s go explore.” He dropped his hands from Mickey’s shoulders and stepped back to Aries and grabbed her hand, though this time he noticed that she didn’t stiffen at the contact. It made him wonder why.

“So, what’s the plan?” Rose asked, trying to ignore the Doctor’s actions.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor shrugged before starting to walk off with Aries, “Cardiff, early twenty-first century and the wind’s coming from the east. Trust me. Safest place in the universe,” he continued with a grin as he squeezed Aries’ hand. _Even if I have to make it safe,_ he added mentally, not wanting his Nesdra to come into any danger.

“Can we go somewhere to eat?” Aries questioned, “I’m feeling rather hungry and I know a place close by that does some decent tea.”

The Doctor paused as he glanced at Aries. “Just give me a moment,” he said, causing Aries to blink in confusion as he disappeared back inside the TARDIS. It was only seconds later when he reappeared, stuffing something inside his jacket pocket before grabbing her hand once more. “Let’s go get some food,” he said with a slightly smug grin before leading her away, ignoring Rose’s glare and Mickey and Jack’s amused, though confused expressions as they followed.

\----

Aries frowned as she glanced in the direction the Doctor had disappeared in. She was sitting at a table outside a cafe, waiting for the Time Lord to return after he had told her he would get some food, though she didn’t know why it was taking him so long. Her gaze drifted over to the table that Rose, Mickey and Jack were sitting at nearby, and her frown softened slightly when she saw how happy Mickey looked as the small group talked animatedly between themselves.

“Sorry I took so long,” the Doctor’s voice startled her and she quickly looked in his direction, only to blink when she noticed that he held two cups in his hand.

“I thought you said you were getting food?” she tilted her head to the side as he placed the cups down on the table before sitting down across from her.

The Doctor grinned. “I did,” he said, glancing at the waiter that had been behind him. Aries blinked as the young man placed a plate of chips on the table before moving off.

“Oh,” was all she could say as she picked up a chip and ate it. “These are good,” she admitted after she had finished it and went to pick up another.

“Why don’t you try the tea,” the Doctor quickly said, causing Aries to pause.

She looked at him before glancing at the cup, her eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly. Suspicion and curiosity bubbled in her stomach and she looked up to the Time Lord, wondering why he wanted her to drink the tea, though she could see nothing deceptive in his expression. If anything, he was waiting patiently, a small smile on his face as he took a sip of his own tea. Looking back to her own cup, Aries slowly picked it up before sniffing it.

Her eyebrows shot upwards as her eyes flew to the Doctor, who was now openly smiling as he placed his cup down. “It couldn’t be,” she breathed and the Doctor nodded as he pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the table. Aries stared at the small tin before her eyes went back to the Time Lord, feeling her heart begin to race. “Yo...you remembered,” she stammered, swallowing heavily as her gaze fell back onto her cup, unsure what to say.

“Who could forget such a fantastic cup of tea,” the Doctor stated warmly, watching his Nesdra.

Aries wrapped her hands around the cup as she took a sip, trying to figure out what to say. But words were lost to her, feeling rather touched by what the Doctor had done. It may have been a simple cup of tea to anyone else, but to Aries, it was almost like she could close her eyes and imagine that she was back at Hogwarts.

The Doctor grinned as he reached forwards and grabbed a few chips, seeing the small smile that appeared on Aries’ face as she took another sip of tea. Her eyes closing as she savoured the unique blend. He lent back in his chair as he finished off the chips before asking her, “So, how’d you meet Sarah Jane?”

Opening her eyes, Aries’ smile grew slightly. “It was actually here in Cardiff,” she replied, placing her cup back on the table and taking a few chips herself. “She was following up a few reported sightings of Weevils in the area while I was studying the rift, trying to work out if the radiation it produces was as harmless as I had been informed. When I met her, I didn’t know she knew about aliens, so I was rather surprised when she mentioned the Weevils.”

“She’s still investigating?” the Time Lord questioned in surprise.

“I don’t think Sarah ever stopped,” Aries said with a small shake of her head.

The Doctor grinned as he ate another chip, feeling proud to hear that his former companion was still investigating. He was also glad to it that it seemed that Aries and Sarah got along rather well. “How long have you known Sarah Jane?” he asked, wanting to know more. The Doctor paused, however, when Aries frowned, her gaze dropping to the table.

It was an innocent question, but the red head didn’t know how to answer it. Just as she knew she couldn’t explain how she had seen the Doctor during the Blitz, as well as the day Rose had saved her father. She knew that a question like it was going to be asked, but had no idea how to answer. And for the first time since meeting the Doctor, she was afraid of what he might do if she did tell him.

Watching his Nesdra as she ran a finger over the back of her hand, the Doctor was surprised to realise she was tracing over the same spot where the scar that the nanogenes had made. Though as he looked back to her face, he found that unlike the other times he had asked Aries about her past, this question was one she didn’t want to answer. There was no quirk of the lip and a question of her own. No vague or uninformative answer. For some reason, his question this time seemed to bother her and he didn’t think the reason why was because of Sarah Jane.

He reached over the table and gently placed his hand above hers, causing Aries to startle in surprise as her eyes snapped to him. He offered her a small smile as he apologised. He may be curious as to know how he had run into his Nesdra at various points during the last sixty years, but he also didn’t want her to shut him out. He just hoped that she would tell him when she was ready. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I’m just curious. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay. I’m not going to force you to.”

Aries looked at their joint hands, a part of her wanting to pull away, though a larger part wanted to turn hers over and hold the Doctor’s but stopped herself. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she stared at them, unsure what to say. Could she trust him with a secret she had only divulged to two others? She swallowed before slowly raising her eyes to look at the Doctor. It didn’t matter what the feelings she held towards the Time Lord were. The connection she felt with him. He had never given her a reason not to trust him.

“We ran into each other over a decade ago,” she finally said and noticed the confusion that flickered over his face. She looked down again, willing herself to speak before her fears overcame her. “I do....don’t know what happened, but one day, I woke up in 1898,” she told him quietly. It wasn’t technically a lie, but she didn’t feel ready to tell him everything.

She didn’t see the Doctor’s eyebrows fly upwards at her words before they furrowed as he tried to figure out what she was telling him. She did see his hand shift over hers, however, flipping hers over to hold it before giving it a reassuring squeeze and she let out a shaky breath.

“There was a note that told me when I was,” she continued, “I don’t know who left it, but it stated that the house I was in had been left for me and it included a bookcase full of information in regards to alien lifeforms and advanced technology. I....I don’t remember much after waking. I had just-” Aries shook her head, stopping herself from saying anything more.

“You mentioned you read some books in Downing Street. They were how you knew that the Slitheen were from Raxacoricofallapatorius,” the Doctor said quietly as he thought about what she had just told him. It was the most he had ever learnt about his Nesdra, and although he was glad she was beginning to open up to him, he could understand why she hadn’t said anything before. He had thought it had been her work with UNIT that gave her the experience with aliens, but hearing that she also knew Sarah Jane and owned a bookcase full of information on them, he was starting to get some answers for questions that had been on his mind ever since meeting her.

Aries nodded slowly, though she still didn’t look at him. He was about to reach forwards to get her to when he froze. “What do you mean by when?” he asked.

When Aries finally looked to him, her expression was unreadable. “As far as I know, I was born on the 13th of October, 1980,” she told him.

“1980,” the Time Lord muttered, his eyebrows knitting together as he tried to figure out how that was possible. “Could it have been possible that you were displaced in time?” he questioned.

Aries looked away, not meeting his gaze. “I wasn’t,” she admitted. She knew that her father had sent her to that time and someone had been expecting her. Something told her that whatever had brought her to this universe, her father had been behind it. But she didn’t know why.

“You know what happened, don’t you,” the Doctor said carefully as he watched his Nesdra closely. It wasn’t a question as he could see the answer in her troubled expression. She looked back to the Doctor as she pulled her hand from his. He let it go without a word, knowing that there was nothing more he could do. He wouldn’t force her to tell him and he was quite surprised Aries had told him as much as she did.

Unable to hold the Doctor’s gaze, Aries picked up her cup of tea and took another sip before placing it back on the table. She knew she was stalling, but she hadn’t meant for him to know that much and saying anything more would reveal information she wasn’t ready to. Sarah and Alistair might be fine with knowing she was from a different universe, but she had no idea how the Doctor would react to that. And adding on the fact that she was a witch _and_ a Time Lord to boot was just too much.

She suddenly flinched when from a table near theirs, Mickey shouted, “I knew we should’ve turned left!” Though her attention was brought back to the Doctor when he spoke.

“I’m not going to push, Aries,” he told her softly, reaching out to grab her hand before stopping and instead, picking up a few more chips, “But I want you to know that I’m here if you need me. Even if it’s just to talk.”

The red head looked at the Time Lord, feeling a warmth spread through her at his words and shifted slightly in her seat when she saw the sincerity of his words in his eyes. She didn’t know how to feel and her emotions were causing her to become uncomfortable. She nodded slightly, her gaze turning away from him as she murmured a quite thank you, all the while fighting the urge to get away from the awkwardness she was feeling. It was strange, having feared what he would say for so long, only for him to accept her words without judgement.

Suddenly, she stood up, something catching her eye and they narrowed.

“Aries?” the Doctor questioned in concern as he stood up also, wondering if he may have said something wrong. He was confused, however, when she snatched the newspaper from the man at the table next to them and quickly read the front page, her expression darkening.

Without a word, she turned the paper so he could see it and his eyebrows furrowed and frowned. “And we were having such a nice day,” he muttered unhappily, seeing what had caught her attention.

On the front page of the Western Mail, there was a picture of Margret the Slitheen stating that she was the new Mayor of Cardiff.

\----

After the Doctor and Aries had shown the others the newspaper, the small group made their way to City Hall.

Along the way, Aries noticed Rose glaring at her and frowned in confusion. She really didn’t have any idea as to why the blonde never liked her, and although she really didn’t care, the outright hatred was becoming annoying. But before she could ask what the blonde’s problem was, the Doctor stepped up beside her, blocking her view of Rose.

“Everything alright?” he asked her, even though he had seen the dirty looks Rose had been continuously giving his Nesdra.

“Fine,” Aries replied, although her frown didn’t disappear as she looked ahead.

“Aries,” the Doctor sighed as he grabbed her hand, causing her to glance at him. Though he noted happily that she didn’t startle at his touch. “I only want to help and I can’t do that if you don’t tell me what’s troubling you.”

It was Aries’ turn to sigh as she looked forwards again. “Have I said or done something to Rose? Cause I really don’t know what has caused her to be hostile towards me,” she said after a moment, her eyebrows knitting together in her confused frustration, “I admit that I may not be the easiest person to get along with, but ever since I have met her, she has done nothing but glare at me.”

The Time Lord blinked at Aries in surprise, unsure as to how she hadn’t noticed that the looks she was receiving from Rose was because his companion was jealous. Though as he thought about it, the Doctor realised that Aries had no reason to think that Rose was jealous, and as smart as she was, believed that she just hadn’t connected the look with jealousy. It was the only....well, he wouldn’t say flaw as he found it rather endearing about his Nesdra. But her almost non-existent ability to understand others emotions was probably the reason behind her frustration with her inability to recognise why Rose didn’t like her.

He could understand that about her now, having found out that instead of her appearing randomly throughout his travels, that she had actually just lived throughout the last century. It was actually _himself_ that had appeared randomly throughout her life, though he wouldn’t have changed it for anything. And although he was curious as to how a human seemed to have not aged during the last one hundred years, it had given him the chance to better understand his Nesdra than if she hadn’t.

To see her throughout various times in her life, from the shy and scared woman he had met during the Blitz to the woman who was walking beside him right now, he had seen how she was driven more with facts and direction, rather than being swayed or distracted by feelings. He knew, because if she wasn’t, he was certain that Aries would have picked up on his feelings for her by now.

Instead of voicing his thought’s, the Doctor offered her a grin as he squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I’m not sure,” he lied, “But I’ll have a talk with her about it, ok,” he added, telling her the truth. He was definitely going to be having another chat with his companion about her behaviour.

“She has got no idea,” Jack whispered to Mickey as they trailed after the other three, both men having watched the interaction.

Mickey shook his head, almost exasperated. “You have no idea,” he muttered, remembering how oblivious his aunty was to the opposite sex. If he was honest, there had been a time where he thought she was actually....batting for the same team, as they say. But over the last couple of months, he had watched how Aries had just seemed to ignore anyone who tried to hit on her. It had been quite amusing to see her talk with people about topics they had brought up, completely oblivious to the fact that most of them had made their intentions very clear. More than once he had been privileged to watching men, and a surprisingly number of women, just up and leave them while Aries spoke, causing his aunty to blink in confusion before shrugging.

Jack raised an eyebrow at Mickey, rather curious to know more about the red head, but the young man just waved him off. He had made a promise to his aunty, and he wasn’t about to break it.

\----

When they finally entered the foyer of City Hall, Jack looked to his vortex manipulator as the others stopped in front of him.

“According to intelligence,” Jack looked up from his manipulator to glance at Aries, “The target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic fifty-seven-fifty-six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor and Aries, you go face to face. That’ll designate Exit One, I’ll cover Exit Two. Rose, you Exit Three. Mickey Smith, you take Exit Four. Have you got that?”

“Excuse me,” the Doctor spoke up, raising an eyebrow at Jack, “Who’s in charge?”

Jack smirked at him, “Sorry,” he apologised sarcastically before looking at Aries, “Awaiting orders, Ma'am,” he said, almost as if daring her to say something.

Mickey frowned at Jack before glancing at his aunty, wondering if she had told the American who she was. But seeing her frowning at the man, her eyebrows knitting together, he realised that she hadn’t. He looked back to Jack, wondering how he had known.

“I don’t think the Doctor was talking about me, _Captain_ ,” Aries said tersely, her tone warning him. She didn’t know how, but it seemed as though Jack knew who she was and a part of her was afraid to know just how much.

“Right,” the Doctor spoke up, confused by the sudden tension he could feel between his Nesdra and Jack. He continued when everyone looked at him, “Here's the plan.” Pausing, the Doctor realised that Jack's plan actually held merit and he grinned, “Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?”

“Yes,” Aries nodded, “I’m going to go with Mickey.”

The Doctor's grin fell at her words and he turned to her. He opened his mouth to argue, wanting Aries with him, but the red head cut him off.

“We've all had experience with aliens, but Mickey really hasn’t had much to do with them,” Mickey made a noise of protest, but quietened when Aries shot him a pointed look, “Despite what you have experienced, I think it would be wise to have someone go with you,” she told him.

Mickey opened his mouth to say something, though quickly closed it when he realised she wasn’t trying to make him feel inadequate or stupid. That she was only concerned for his safety. He nodded at Aries with a small smile and the Doctor frowned, once again wondering just what their relationship was.

The Time Lord could admit, begrudgingly, that her idea held merit, but he would prefer it if someone else went with Mickey instead. His frown only deepened when he realised that if someone else went with the younger man, it still meant that Aries wasn’t with him as she would have to cover their exit. He glowered at Mickey, causing the young man’s eyes to widen in surprise.

Rose looked between them all in confusion. The blonde had no idea why Aries' suggestion was causing them to react like this. It was, not that she would ever admit it, the first idea she actually agreed with the red head on, especially if it meant that Aries was not spending anymore time alone with the Doctor.

Jack raised an eyebrow as he looked between the group, wondering what had the Time Lords knickers in a twist before his jaw dropped. _It couldn’t be,_ he thought in disbelief, his eyes flickering between the Doctor and Aries. He knew that some species had bonds with the one they considered their soulmates, and he knew about Time Lord's and the bond they create when they found their Nesdra. But Jack had only thought it was a rumour.

But the signs were right there in front of him.

The protectiveness, jealousy, and the fact that the Doctor never seemed to be far from Aries' side. It actually explained so much to him, answering the questions he had earlier in regards to the pair, as well as the way the Doctor had never shown an ounce of interest in Rose. But there was still one that was left unanswered.

Just how did the Doctor manage to find his Nesdra in someone who's mother would have never placed her in a position to meet a Time Lord?

Rumours aside, it had been common knowledge throughout the Time Agency that the Alchemist held no love for her own species. He had even heard a tale or two from agents that had said they had run into the errant Time Lady, stating that she had not taken kindly to anyone who had called her one. So it confused him as to how someone who hated her own species had allowed her only daughter, if he was corrected with that assumption, to form a bond with one.

Jack shook his head, getting back to the task at hand. There would be time later to think over the implications of what he had just realised. “She's right, Doctor,” he spoke up, rolling his eyes when the Doctor turned his glare on him. “Oh, don’t glare at me. It’s not my fault you _mate_ is so good at working through problems strategically.”

The Time Lord blinked at the American’s words before he scowled and looked away. _Of course! Leave it to Jack to figure out why I’m not liking this idea,_ he groused internally, fighting the urge to cross his arms against his chest. He hadn’t seen _his_ Aries in almost a year and all he wanted was for her to be with him. _But she doesn’t even know about your bond,_ a traitorous voice whispered in his mind and it caused his mood to darken further.

No, he wasn’t liking this at all.

“Present arms,” Jack cut through his thoughts and they all pulled out their phones except Aries, since she didn’t have anyone’s number but Mickey's.

The Doctor shot Mickey one more glare when _his_ Nesdra moved to stand beside the young man. “Ready,” he said gruffly.

“Ready,” Rose added, glancing at the Doctor curiously, wondering why he was glaring at her boyfriend.

Mickey swallowed as he also said that he was ready. Sure he had thought that the Doctor liked Aries, but the glares he was getting from the Time Lord made him think that the Doctor wanted to kill him for just being close to Aries. _Protective much?_ he mused before swallowing again when he noticed the Doctor staring at him again. He mildly wondered if the Doctor could read minds before thinking it would be a good idea to tell the man that he didn’t see Aries as anything but his aunty. But he wouldn’t do that without consulting Aries first, and that would be admitting that he was rather scared of the Doctor.

“Ready,” Jack said, fighting down a smile as he watched the Doctor staring at Mickey. _Poor guy doesn’t have a clue,_ he mused before speaking again. “Speed dial?”

“Yup,” the Time Lord answered, finally looking away from Mickey and pressed a button on his phone.

“Ready,” Rose repeated as she did the same, still confused as to why everyone was acting odd.

“Check,” Aries spoke as she took the phone off Mickey and pressed a button, glancing in concern at the young man as she did so.

“See you in hell,” Jack told them with a grin. He gave the Time Lord one last glance before he moved off, only to pause when he noticed the man stopping Aries and Mickey. _Oh, this is going to be fun,_ he thought, shaking his head before moving off, the grin never leaving his lips.

“Everything okay?” Aries asked the Doctor after he had stopped them, concerned that something looked to be troubling him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” the Time Lord nodded, even though he was feeling far from okay. He glanced at Mickey before refocusing on his Nesdra, “Just make sure you stay safe,” he told her.

“I will,” Aries replied with a small smile, “You be careful as well.”

The Doctor managed to return her smile. “I will be,” he promised her before surprising the red head when he pulled her into a quick hug. He felt her stiffen in surprise before she hugged him back.

Aries was even more surprised, however, when she felt his lips brush against her temple and suddenly she was overwhelmed with the Doctor’s scent, recognising it as her amortentia once again before he let her go and headed off. She stood there stunned and blinked, puzzled as to what had just happened before shaking her head. She turned to Mickey and frowned when she noticed he was looking at the Doctor’s retreating form with an expression of fear.

“You alright, Mickey?” she asked, rather concerned and confused as to why he looked frightened.

Mickey's head snapped to her and he swallowed, nodding quickly. “Y-yeah, everything’s. Why wouldn’t it be?” he asked quickly, his voice higher than normal. He glanced back to where the Doctor had disappeared before shaking his head, trying to get the death glare the Time Lord had given him from his mind. If looks could kill, Mickey had the sense to believe that the look he had just received was almost like the Doctor would kill him, then travel back in time to kill him again.

He looked back to his aunty who was watching him in concern. “Do you think we could tell them your my aunty?” he asked meekly.

Aries frowned at the young man. Earlier, she would have denied it, but seeing how well the Doctor had taken to what she had told him, she didn’t think there would be any negative reactions coming from the Time Lord about her being Mickey's aunt. Technically, he already knew, but she gathered that it would probably be a good idea to explain it to him anyways.

“Sure,” she said and watched as Mickey's shoulders relaxed.

“Thanks,” Mickey said, visibly relieved before grabbing her hand and heading off, “Come on. We have an alien to stop.”


End file.
